Google Home finally gets a widget

Quick access to smart home devices is coming to Android in the form of a new Google Home Favorites widget. This will let you control devices, actions, and automations directly from the homescreen of your phone. There’s also a new Favorites tile and complication coming to Wear OS for accessing frequently used devices right from your wrist.

The new Favorites widget lets you view and interact with the most-used devices directly on your homescreen, no need to open the Google Home app.

Currently, the easiest way to do this is to tap on the tile shortcut to the Home app, but this opens the full app. An interactive widget should be faster overall for doing something like turning on a light, locking a door, or checking the temperature.

As with most widgets, its size is adjustable, so ideally you could just have a whole page of smart home controls (just me?). The widget is available to those signed up for the Google Home app’s public preview starting today, May 30th.

The new Wear OS Favorites tile and complication brings similar functionality to your wrist. The tile, which you access by swiping left, takes you to quick controls for up to five devices. Tapping on an icon takes you to the device’s controls in the Wear OS Home app, where you can unlock your door, dim the lights, or adjust your thermostat.

The complication can be set to control a specific device right from the watch face, such as a fan or light, and that tapping on it will also take you directly to the control in the Home app.

The Google Home tile and complication for Wear OS is rolling out today, May 30th, on devices running Wear OS 3 or higher.