I have 4 speakers and a 2nd gen display with YouTube Premium and several smart lights and plugs.
I set them up with my phone but I don't want all these extra 3rd party apps taking up space so I purchased an Android 11 tablet specifically to house all of these apps and set up and maintain my automation but when I use the Home app to connect these devices I'm told to download the Google app. When I tap the link to do that I'm only able to get the Google Go app on my device which doesn't satisfy Google Home's requirement apparently as I continue to be directed to download the Google app. I can't even control my media through the Home app without it! The Home app seems to be nearly useless without the Google app as I can't control devices other than turning the lights on and off, which I do with all these speakers by voice, and I can't set up new devices or reconnect ones that may have been knocked offline.
I have this exact issue with my Chromebook as well though I am able to sideload the Google app on that but I also don't want those apps on my computer and I have to reinstall/sideload the Google app every time there's any update to the OS, Home app, or Google app, and that's often enough to be a huge hassle.
We have other things we'd like to do with home automation but having my phone be the control and setup for this is holding us back.
Now I am trying to get new plugs connected for our Christmas decorations and have very little space on my phone for new apps so it's time I finally get this resolved.
Am I missing something or am I stuck because I can't download the Google app?
