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Lazarus
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Did you miss our I/O announcements? If so, you're in luck! We're excited to share some of our favorite highlights, including new updates for Google TV and Google Home.

 

The new Google Home app — now available for everyone
The redesigned Google Home app will be rolling out over the next few weeks, with a new layout that's easier to navigate. Pin your most-used devices to the Favorites tab, see your Nest camera live streams and video history more easily, create new home automations, and much more.

 

Easily control your home from more devices

  • Quick home control on Pixel:
    • The home panel gives you quick access to your smart home devices and actions, right from your Android lock screen or the Quick Settings menu. You can control your compatible lights, thermostat, and other devices with just a tap, and see live camera feeds from your Nest cams. It's faster and easier than ever to control your smart home. Try the home panel on the new Pixel Tablet and Pixel phones in the coming weeks.
  • Easily interact with visitors from the web:
    • We're adding new camera and doorbell features to Google Home for web. Talk and listen is rolling out over the nest few weeks for all Nest cameras and doorbells launched in 2021 or later. We're also improving battery level indications to help you keep track of the remaining power on your devices.
  • Control more devices from your wrist:
    • Get ready for  a wristload of new features for Google Home on Wear OS! Get notifications with preview images for Nest cameras and doorbell, view your favorite devices and automations, change the color of your compatible lights, control your thermostat modes, and more.

wear controls.gif

 

Google TV makes it easier to find and watch the latest entertainment

  • New free TV channels (US only):
    • Google TV now comes with over 800 free live TV channels all in one place, no subscription needed. Quickly find channels by topic and save your favorites so you can access them later.
  • New ways to discover fresh favorites (US only):
    • Discover what to watch next with the Movies, Shows, Family, and Español pages on Google TV. Pages are organized by topic for easy access to the entertainment you want, no need to jump from app to app.
  • Tap to watch on TV:
    • Use the Google TV app on your phone or Pixel Tablet to seamlessly browse and cast entertainment from any app or service directly to your TV. You can also use your device as a remote.

gtv.gif

 

We can't wait to hear which updates you're most excited about! Let us know in the comments about your favorite new features.

12 Comments
ShaneAN1
Community Member

Google and it's marketers need to stop saying the word "now" when they talk about upcoming software and hardware updates. The "new Google home" was announced a full 6 months ago using words like "just got better" and "now" with no real truth at when it would actually be available to customers.  

Similarly - it's a week out from when these updates were FINALLY supposed to roll out but because Google's rollouts strategies are staged rather than possible on a manual pull basis - saying "now rolling out" or "just got better" means literally nothing other than frustration and more waiting. It's like telling people what they're getting for Christmas and then not giving it to them for an unknown period of time. 

How about making the "check for update" button in the store or phones ACTUALLY pull the latest software for those who are in the know enough to actually be attuned to the updates? Instead of saying "you're up to date " (lie) 

EmptyNester
Gold Product Expert
Gold Product Expert

Well said,  I completely agree.  Somehow Google has lost the ability to see things from the user's vantage point.

SteelCor
Community Member

I still don’t have the new live TV tab on my Chromecast with Google TV 4k.  When will it appear? 

This was announced more than 5 weeks ago and has now been announced for Android TV. On April 11, it said “starting today.” That’s a bit misleading….

cdcolo
Community Member

My question is about HELLO the doorbell. The new features spoke about, will it be a new HELLO or a software update?

I have a wired Hello and two things have happened; 1) the doorbell stopped ringing (big problem) and 2) I live in south Texas and the sun is brutal! It has cracked the glass/plastic around the button. 

My question is, if when opt for a new HELLO should we stay with the wired version or switch to battery?

EmptyNester
Gold Product Expert
Gold Product Expert

Hello cdcolo,  I'm an end user like you and have been with the Nest cameras for many years.  Here are my opinions on this.

The doorbell known as "HELLO" was the original doorbell camera also known as Generation 1.  I have this model and I like it a lot.  With this camera you should continue to use the NEST app and don't even bother with the new Google Home app as it lacks many features of the NEST app.  Google is slowly migrating the NEST APP features to the Google Home app, but even with this new release there are still a number of features missing.

If you doorbell stopped ringing you might want to check the wiring back at the doorbell itself.   Remember there is a small white disk in there that you installed way back when and it is responsible for making sure your in-home doorbell rings when the nest HELLO button is pushed.   This should not have stopped working just because you are trying to use the Google Home app.

Regarding the cracking and peeling I have had 2 of these doorbells and they both have done this. Google will ONLY replace them if they are still under the 1-year warranty.  Otherwise we just have to live it it.

Regarding the  new doorbell cameras I would avoid them for now.  If you need to replace a HELLO doorbell just buy another one used on Ebay.   And if you do move forward with a new doorbell be sure NOT to get the battery only version as it has many problems as people have been talking about on this forum for about a year now.  The newer WIRED version is okay but remember it ONLY works with limited Google Home app.

Hope this helps

 

 

ShaneAN1
Community Member

@SteelCor I had this problem too with live TV not showing up. Turns out there's a detail about this transition that isn't mentioned. That live tv tab will not appear unless you have free live services like Pluto installed AND recommendations for those same services turned on. So go into your settings and turn on recommendations for those services and the live TV tab and scrolling grid will appear. 

Not sure why this wasn't detailed anywhere. Nor why when I called up Google support to get some help to figure it out THEY didn't tell me. I had to figure it out on my own. 

Its nice that Google has easily reachable support operators. But not nice that 95% are thick, clearly don't use the products, and follow a very limited script which usually starts with factory resetting whatever device you're using. Such a waste of time. 

SteelCor
Community Member

@ShaneAN1  I have Pluto installed and have done content many thumbs up and down recommendation ratings. Strangely in both the settings and profile, you can’t enable recommendations from services, but you can do this from the panel advertising this on the Home Screen at the very bottom. I have had Pluto TV and other apps enabled there already.  I don’t think any of this is tied to the rollout, and it must be random.

 

I’ve always had the old Live tab which has only Pluto channels. The new Live experience with the added channels still hasn’t updated to replace that.

Jonathan007
Community Member

The year is 2053, AI has become our personal chef, hoverboards are the new norm, and we've set foot on Mars, yet here I am, still waiting for the Google Home app update. It seems like those lucky people in the U.S. got the express ticket to this digital party, while the rest of us are stuck in the queue. Maybe they'll include a time machine feature in the next update so we can fast-forward to when we all have it!

ShaneAN1
Community Member

@Jonathan007 Seriously. How Google marketing thinks announcing changes 7 months ago via a webpage, having a limited 7 month alpha, announcing a rollout available two weeks ago and not allowing instant manual download and doing this kinda thing server side makes any sense defies logic 100%. Add into that not starting their feature rollouts to Google flagship phones first and it's pure ludicrous. 

ShaneAN1
Community Member

Somewhat on. Ironically, I have a dinky little iPhone that I have as a toy, and I don't use because I have a pixel 7 Pro, but the iPhone just got the update today and my pixel 7 Pro is still the same old crappy app. Google! Seriously!

Jonathan007
Community Member

In the realm of digital Darwinism, my trusty Nokia relic, powered by the extinct Symbian OS, has bewilderingly outpaced my state-of-the-art Google Pixel 7 in the race to assimilate the new Google Home update. This is like a coelacanth out-swimming a great white shark in the tech ocean. It's a veritable Schrödinger's update paradox: my Pixel 7 is both advanced and behind, all at the same time. In the immortal words of Spock, 'It's life, Jim, but not as we know it.

MplsCustomer
Bronze
Bronze

The new version of the Google Home app is being pushed out when Google Nest turns it on FOR YOUR MOBILE DEVICE on the Google Nest servers. We upgraded to the latest version of the Google Home app (iOS version) about a week ago on all three of our devices, but the new version suddenly appeared two days ago on ONE of our iPhones but had still NOT appeared on the other iPhone or on my iPad.  And it appeared just as I had closed the Google Home app and then reopened it.