As part of Google’s smart home announcements today, the company has unveiled a new look for its Google Home app that will begin rolling out globally today. The heart of the redesign is about Gemini for Home, which will replace the Google Assistant role in smart devices and promises a more conversational way to interact with and direct the company’s AI. The Google Home app is also now where customers will control their Nest devices.
There’s now a Home tab with a consolidated view of the system, an Activity tab that collects the notifications from all connected devices and an Automations tab for managing the hands-off side of the smart home hardware. The app also now has a persistent AI-powered “Ask Home” option in the header that Google describes as a “natural language command center for your entire home.” The company promises that it will be able to execute naturally written commands, such as searching for specific moments in a camera clip or creating more open-ended automations. However, some of those features will require a Google Home Premium subscription to access.
In addition to the new Gemini features, the Google Home app has been rebuilt for increased reliability and performance. The software loads “significantly faster,” reportedly more than 70 percent faster on some Android devices. Camera views in the app should load 30 percent faster and playback failures should be down 40 percent in the new version. Google is also boasting a reduction of almost 80 percent in app crashes and said it is additionally working to improve battery draw.
