Whether you’re looking for an easy way to automate lighting, locks, and thermostats or want help organizing your week, investing in smart home technology can go a long way toward a happier and more together you! While there are numerous smart ecosystems, we recommend Google Home. It’s simple to get started, a breeze to control, and there are thousands of compatible devices. Some of these products are made by Google.
Before you hit the pavement (or head over to Google’s site), you may wonder what a Google Home can do. This list of our favorite Google smart home features sheds light on Google’s intuitive platform.
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Automate your day
When we think of “smart home,” one thing that comes to mind is controlling your home’s lighting, cameras, and other web-connected tech with voice commands to a smart speaker, an app, or a smart display. When it comes to device compatibility, it’s hard to beat Google Home’s open-armed engineering.
You can control over 50,000 devices through the Google Home app and many of these gadgets interface with Google Assistant. Noteworthy brands like Nest, Philips Hue, and Yale are behind many of these products, and Google Home also does a nice job of extending coverage to third-party products and developers.
With one Google Assistant smart speaker or an Android device with a built-in mic, you can issue one-off voice commands like “OK Google, turn on the living room lights” or “Hey Google, set the heat to 74.”
You can also build Routines in the Google Home app to execute several automations at once. Imagine saying, “Hey Google, good morning,” and without lifting a finger (or saying another word), the following occurs: your smart blinds raise to let sunlight in, your Nest speaker starts rattling off news headlines, and your robot vacuum starts vacuuming. This is the kind of stuff you can do with Google Home Routines.
If you’d rather control your smart home via phone, tablet, or PC, the Google Home app is an incredible bit of software that’s packed with features, settings, and a UI that’s easy to wrap your head around. Google has a steady track record of updating the app and staying on top of glitches and other performance issues.
We all have a million things to do all the time, which can make remembering appointments, events, and other to-dos a challenge. When it comes to organization and wrangling in your life, there’s no better tool for the job than Google Home.
The platform lets you set reminders using voice commands or the Google Home app. You can say things like, “OK, Google, remind me to check the mail at 4 pm.” When the hour rolls around, you’ll get a Google Home notification on the devices that are configured to receive them. You can also set up shared reminders with a feature called Family Bell. Pick a one-off time or schedule a recurring event, and Google Home plays a chime or announcement at the time you selected on all of your home’s Google and Android smart speakers, displays, and other devices.
You can also use Google Home’s calendar tool to stay on top of daily and weekly events. If you use Google Calendars outside of a Google Home ecosystem, it’s easy to input the ones you’ve created. After everything is in place, you can ask your Nest speakers things like, “What’s on my calendar for today?” You’ll get a full readout of everything on your plate (you can also see these events in the Google Home app).
Google Home gives you access to other organization tools, including alarms, timers, sleep timers, and more.
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Home security you can count on
One of the best parts of running a smart home ecosystem for your home or business is DIY home security devices. These include security cameras, locks, and smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. Installing these components takes no time and may only involve plugging it in, downloading an app, and connecting the hardware to Wi-Fi.
After configuring these devices to be part of your Google Home ecosystem, you can receive alerts when a subject crosses onto your property and use the Google Home app to communicate with visitors via two-way audio. You can also view compatible camera live views in the Google Home app or on a smart TV (or streaming device) running Google TV OS.
Home security devices can be programmed into your Google Routines. Popular automations include a combination of cameras and lights. When a subject is detected, outdoor floodlights turn on to ward off intruders.
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Multiroom jam parties
Sometimes, there’s nothing better to do at the end of a long work week than rock out to your Friday playlist. If you own one or several Google Nest smart speakers, you can play your favorite music and podcasts using voice commands and the Google Home app.
You can also use Google’s speaker grouping feature to share a single audio stream with multiple Google Nest products simultaneously. Speaker groups can also contain the Google TV Streamer, Chromecast devices, or speakers or displays that support Google Cast. We like that you can control playback and volume levels for a bunch of Google gear at the same time.
Some popular music streaming services that work with Google Home include Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and Deezer. You can also use Google Home to control Sonos hardware, which is good news for those who use these Wi-Fi-powered speakers to enjoy their favorite tunes.
When you group multiple Google smart speakers and displays, you can issue announcements to more than one device at the same time. Think of it as a DIY intercom system without having to run wires.
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A health and wellness coach that doesn’t yell
Source: play.google.com
Keeping tabs on fitness goals is easier when Google Home assists. Home to many health and wellness features, Google Home helps you count calories, track your sleep, come up with new workout ideas, and more.
When it comes to all things fitness, your health info is tracked by Google Fit, making it easy for you to access from your Android devices and smartwatches. Google Fit can also upload health data to popular apps like MyFitnessPal and Runkeeper if you prefer the interfaces and features of other fitness-monitoring platforms.
You can ask Google Assistant for recipe ideas, nutrition facts, and other food-related info.
Google Home is good to go
Our list of top Google-powered smart home features barely scratches the surface of what Google Home can do to optimize your days. Our favorite new Google Home features allow you to use Google Gemini to create custom automations, view your Nest camera from your smartwatch, control your smart devices from your Google TV, and hear better descriptions of what your security camera sees.