Vacation Mode for Nest Mini

[Anon00]

I was looking to purchase a Nest Mini or a smart speaker that I can use to play music through while I'm on vacation so it seems as if someone is at home and listening to music at times during the day.   Will the Nest Mini be able to do this or should I use a different device for this use case?

Thanks in advanced to anyone that answers.

[Princesss]

Hello Anon00,

Thanks for reaching out to our Community.

Regarding your question, I'd like to know, would there be anyone from your house who will use your Google Nest Mini? If yes, they can still use your speaker to play music. Also, another option you can have is to play music using a scheduled routine. Routines in the Google Home app are automations for your home devices that can help you and your household automate tasks throughout the day.

For example, you can create:

Personal Routines like one that you start when you say, “Hey Google, good morning." Google Assistant then turns on your compatible smart lights, tells you about the weather, lists your calendar events for the day, and plays the news.

Create a Personal Routine

Important: To get results like calendar events and commute info, you must turn on personal results.

1. Open the Google Home app .
2. Tap Automations Add select Personal.
3. To name your Routine, tap Untitled.
   • If you add a voice starter before you name your Routine, the voice starter becomes the name.
4. Add the starters and actions you want. Note: If your Routine is set to start automatically and includes actions with audio, specify the device you want the audio to play on. At the bottom, tap Device for audio, select a device and tap Save.
5. Tap Save.

You can find your new Routine in the list under "Personal Routines." This list also includes some ready-made Routines that you can edit.

Note: If you can't create or run Routines, you may need to change the language of your phone to one that is supported for your region.

"I'm home" and "Leaving home" are both ready-made Personal Routines that don't use presence sensing. To create Household Routines that start when everyone's away or someone comes home, set up Home & Away Routines.

Some examples of Personal Routines:

• Starter: Say “Hey Google, let’s go home.”
• Action: Assistant gives a traffic update, reads your texts, and plays a podcast.
• Starter: Say “Hey Google, bedtime.”
• Action: Assistant sets an alarm, turns off the lights, and plays sleep sounds.
• Starter: You dismiss your morning alarm.
• Action: Assistant tells you about events on your calendar, the day’s weather, and your commute to work.

Create a Household Routine

1. Open the Google Home app .
2. Tap Automations Add select Household.
3. To name your Routine, tap Untitled.
   • If you add a voice starter before you name your Routine, the voice starter becomes the name.
4. Add the starters and actions you want. Note: If your Routine is set to start automatically and includes actions with audio, specify the device you want the audio to play on. At the bottom, tap No device for audio, select a device and tap Save.
5. Tap Save.

You can create a household Routine to:

• Turn a light, plug, camera, or switch on or off at a specific time every day.
• Set your smart lights’ brightness and color when the TV turns on.
• Turn on the entrance light when a motion sensor detects motion, or turn off your lights when no motion is detected for 10 minutes.
• If the doorbell rings in the evening, turn on the porch lights and set the light brightness to 75%.

Note: Home & Away Routines have different setup steps than other Household Routines.

You can create and edit advanced home automations using additional starters, actions, and conditions with script editor. Learn more about the script editor and how to create advanced Routines.

Learn how to set up Home & Away Routines.

Hope this helps.

Best,

Princess