Google Home

If you’re having trouble controlling lights via Google Home and voice commands, you’re not alone, as Google has acknowledged some issues regarding this functionality and is working to roll out a fix.

Google Assistant has, especially in the context of the smart home, been crumbling over the past couple of years. In a post this evening, Google’s lead for Home and Nest has acknowledged Assistant issues while also teasing “major improvements” coming later this year.

As much as I have always loved having a robot vacuum around that connects to my Google Home ecosystem, I’ve still always felt like they fall short in small ways. The X8 Pro Omni from Ecovacs finally feels like an option that doesn’t, and that’s all you need.

As previewed last month with other Android updates, Google Home for Wear OS is letting you set a custom list of device Favorites. 

The Gemini app is getting the ability to Broadcast messages to your Nest speakers and smart displays using the Google Home integration. This is rolling out now.

As part of bringing Gemini (models) to Assistant on the Nest Mini and Audio, Google is adding more natural voices. Following the initial seven options added in December, Google recently introduced three more voices.

The Nest x Yale Lock was a pillar of Google’s smart home for years, and perhaps for much longer than it really should have been. Now, a successor of sorts has finally arrived in the new Yale Smart Lock with Matter, which is also the first “Google Home Preferred” product.

The latest release notes — version 3.33 — for the Google Home app on Android and iOS are now available.

In addition to all the Android announcements, Google Home previewed a number of upcoming updates and features today.

Alongside the Android 16 launch and June 2025 Pixel Drop, Google is highlighting the latest (app) features for all Android devices.

We didn’t get a real update about Gemini on smart speakers and display at I/O 2025 last week, but Google Home recently added a new “Voice assistant experiments” setting for it.

At I/O 2025, Google announced a new “Home Summary Widget” for Pixel devices, while bringing Gemini to the Home APIs for third-party developers.

Google now offers release notes for the Home app on Android and iOS, with the version 3.32 update introducing several new features and bug fixes.

After being available as part of a Public Preview phase, the quick Home Panel for your connected smart devices is now rolling out for the Chromecast with Google TV and other Google TV sets.

The Google Home app is bucking the trend of how most first-party products lack meaningful update release notes.

While new units are no longer being made, Google has announced that new controls for the Nest x Yale Lock will be coming to the Google Home app soon.

The Nest brand has been built up for years as it was a pioneer of the smart home, but Google has slowly moved away from what so many people bought into as it has built up the Google Home ecosystem. Now, the Nest you knew is gone for good, and we know what the future looks like.

In partnership with Google, Yale today announced the Yale Smart Lock with Matter. This serves as a sequel to the Nest x Yale Lock from 2018, which is being discontinued.