Google is finally ready to explain how Gemini will replace Google Assistant in your smart home. The company’s original voice assistant will be replaced with the aptly named Gemini for Home starting this month, ushering in what might be an easier-to-use and more conversational smart home era in the process.
Like Google teased at CES 2025, the biggest change Gemini for Home will introduce for Google Assistant devotees is an end to rigid commands. While you’ll still need to use a “Hey Google” wake word, the days of having to be precise are over. Google claims Gemini grasps context enough to not only remember what your last request was, but also understand that if you’re saying “Hey Google, I’m about to watch a movie, turn off the lights,” you specifically mean the lights in your living room. You’ll also be able to string multiple requests together into the same sentence, and create automations without having to whip out the Google Home app, just by describing them. And when you want to ditch wake words entirely, you can start a Gemini Live chat and have a smooth back and forth with Gemini about whatever you choose.
AI-based improvements will also extend to any cameras you have in your smart home. Google says Gemini can create more useful notifications if a camera detects motion or films a notable event from around your home, thanks to its semantic understanding of visuals. You can also pull a specific piece of footage with natural language requests and even receive answers based on things your smart home recorded via a new feature called “Ask Home.” Like Ask Photos in Google Photos, Ask Home understands the context and meaning of footage you’ve captured to provide answers to questions like “Did I leave the car door open.” And for a larger overview of what’s going on at home, the “Home Brief” can identify important events you’ve filmed and “summarizes hours of footage into a quick, digestible summary you can read to catch up on what happened while you were away,” Google says.
Google says Gemini for Home will be available on all of its smart home devices released in the last decade, including new Gemini for Home-compatible doorbells and cameras created by Walmart. Unfortunately, if you’re interested in features like Gemini Live, AI-powered notifications, Ask Home and Home Brief, you’ll have to pay for a $10-per-month Google Home Premium subscription to use it. The subscription also unlocks an additional 30 days of cloud storage for any videos your smart home captures and comes included with Google’s AI Pro and Ultra subscriptions at no additional cost.
To try out Gemini for Home as soon as possible, you can sign up for early access in the Google Home app. Google says the update will roll out throughout the month of October, and come to smart speakers and smart displays “toward the end of the month.”
