In addition to all the Android announcements, Google Home previewed a number of upcoming updates and features today.
The Google Home web app will “soon” get more controls: “Adjust your lights, set the temperature, unlock the door, and more.” This expanded home.google.com functionality is coming first to the Public Preview program.
The Google TV Streamer’s Home Panel will offer picture-in-picture (PiP) for Nest Cams so that you can “see who’s at your door, or check in on the backyard without pausing what you’re watching or switching screens.” (Early access with Public Preview.)
Google is also recapping the ability to jump forward or backward by 10 seconds with a double-tap in the player, while “improvements under the hood mean scrolling your video history feels significantly smoother.”
In an expansion, the Google Home app/Extensions in the Gemini app will let you “send broadcasts to the speakers in your home or search your camera history by typing a question in natural language.” At the moment, broadcasts (voice) commands use the fallback Assistant experience. We’re not seeing this live just yet.
Google also says device-specific Favorites are “coming soon,” with the Home app adding additional tiles like “the indoor temperatures dashboard, Wi-Fi actions, and whole home lights on-off for instant access.”
Create one set of go-to Favorites on your watch and a different set for the devices you check the most from your tablet without affecting the Favorites tab in the Home app.
The Google Home app is also currently testing (Public Preview in the US on Android) a new automations editor that’s simpler, while offering “new starters & conditions that let you get even more specific.”
Plus, now you can use presence sensing to start any automation based on whether someone’s home or everyone’s away.
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