It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Google has made a lot of changes to its Home app and how Android users can interact with smart home devices given how important they have become. The Google Home app, which is available for both Android and iOS, has undergone a complete redesign and will be available tomorrow. This is the most significant update.
Google claims that they have been significantly iterating on the app in response to user feedback since it went live in preview last fall. The familiar five-tab view runs along the bottom of the screen in the new design: devices, activities, favorites, automation, and settings The default view is the favorites tab, where you can pin interactive tiles for the devices, actions, and automations you use the most to the view.
It can, for instance, show you an automatic view from a Nest camera, let you change the temperature or lights in a specific room, or both. When you have an active video or audio stream playing on one of your devices, it will also display media controls. Additionally, frequently utilized “spaces” such as the climate, WiFi control, cameras, and lights are displayed in a bar at the top of the screen. Because of this, you can quickly begin adjusting those settings throughout your home.
As you might expect, devices displays everything that is connected to it, arranged by room. The action tab allows you to perceive how things have changed with your gadgets, similar to your indoor regulator’s action over the long haul or camera occasions. It likewise contains an inbox that arranges notices in a single spot. Here, specifically in terms of performance, cameras are getting a significant boost. Google says cameras are 38% quicker to show you a live feed in the new application, and getting to cuts is 29% quicker.
The robotization tab is the default spot for building schedules that work across numerous gadgets, and you can plan them there or dynamic them on the fly. Finally, the settings tab was redesigned to simplify and consolidate all necessary controls. Google called the old experience divided and said that incorporating these devices was a vital piece of the update.
Additionally, Google has significant news regarding its support for the Matter smart home standard. Most importantly, the Google Home app for iOS now supports Matter, so you can set up and manage devices that are compatible with Matter within the app on your iPhone. This, according to Google, will be available in the “coming weeks” and will require iOS 16.5. In addition, the Home app now includes new controllers for over 60 apps, which should make controlling more devices within the Home app simpler.
The Google Home app is finally coming to Wear OS in conjunction with these app updates. With it, you will be able to see your favorites on your wrist and scroll through your rooms to make any necessary adjustments. Your Wear OS watch will also send you camera notifications that show you an animated preview of what just happened, so you can see, for instance, that someone just delivered a package. On May 15, the Wear OS app will be available.
In addition, an update is being made to the Home app to make it work better on tablets. Given that the Pixel Tablet will be available soon, this is an excellent time to do so. Naturally, it will perform better in landscape and portrait orientations and make better use of a large screen. There’s additionally a new “home panel” that will come to both the Pixel Tablet and Pixel cell phones — this will allow you to do normal activities like view a camera, change an indoor regulator or transform on your lights without going into the Home application. Furthermore, when the Pixel Tablet is docked, that Home board will be open by anybody so they can change things in the house depending on the situation.
Additionally, those who own older Nest Cam devices have some good news from Google. The first-generation Nest Cam Indoor and Outdoor will finally be able to be used with the new Home app instead of the previous Nest app. That will occur in July, and you’ll should utilize the public see of the Home application. Google says the exchange requires around 10 minutes, and afterward every one of the information and feeds from those cameras will be accessible in the equivalent application as your other savvy home gadgets.
The timeline for all of these updates varies, as is typical with Google; however, the Home app itself will unquestionably undergo the most significant change, and it will be available tomorrow. Prepare to pound that “update my applications” button.
