Here Are the Best New Google Home Smart Home Features
Amazon Echo may have gotten a head start in the home automation battle, but Google Home is catching up quickly. Google announced Thursday that its smart speakers and smart assistant can now control more than 5,000 devices (up from 1,500 at the start of the year) from all major brands.
That’s a lot to unpack, but for the most part it’s still the same old smart lights and voice-activated thermostats. Here’s a quick look at some of the most interesting and useful new ways to control your smart home with Google Home.
Change TV channel without lifting your finger
If you’re already using Chromecast or Android TV, this is nothing new, but for the rest of us, using Google Assistant to control your TV is a dream come true. To help, Google is adding support for DISH Hopper set-top boxes to Home, so you can change the channel simply by saying, “Ok Google, turn CNN on Hopper.” Alas, “Hey Google, why am I still watching Cleveland Browns?” Will not automatically open ESPN, but you can dream.
Google also makes it easy to control your Logitech Harmony setup with the Assistant. You no longer need to start every voice command with the words “talk to Logitech”. Instead, just say, “Ok Google, turn on channel 1,” and you’re there. Milliseconds: Saved.
Check your front door from your phone
There are many smart doorbell devices that attach an internet-connected camera to the front of your door, but in reality checking the channel can mean navigating random third-party apps. Now with Google, it’s much easier to see who’s knocking.
If you have a Nest Hello doorbell, you can receive an alert from the Google Assistant when someone calls it. From there, you can quickly jump to live camera view. This integration is limited to Google’s own Nest products for now, but the company says it will roll out to other models later this year.
Make your light smart for the cheap
Replacing all the old light bulbs in your home with new smart lights is a lot of fun, but it’s also a costly upgrade. Luckily, Google Home now supports one of the cheapest options on the market. Grab some smart IKEA Trådfri bulbs (no matter how you pronounce the word) without worrying about running out of money to pay your electricity bill.
Additional tips and tricks for working with Google Home
If you’re even looking for a way to get the most out of Google Home, try setting a music alarm instead of waking up to annoying beeps every morning. You can even do your best and build a high-tech Google Home jukebox like one man did.
For even more ideas, visit the Google Smart Home Hub or go here for a complete list of everything your home speaker can do.