Google has removed the Call Home feature from the Google Home app in recent updates, officially cutting support for calling devices like the Nest Hub Max directly.
Call Home is now gone
To add some context, Google Home added support for the feature in 2019. Call Home used Google Duo to send voice/video calls directly to smart displays such as the Nest Hub and the previously mentioned Nest Hub Max. Video calls were the first to be added, with voice calls supported a little later. Interestingly, these devices can still accept calls from Google Meet.
Google has also removed anything related to “Call Home” from the main page.
Users on Reddit first spotted the removal last week, and more recently noticed that the feature had been removed from the app following the rollout of the latest Home App update. 9to5Google corroborated this after digging through the app. Also of note, the Broadcast button, which lets you dictate messages through speakers and smart displays, is gone as well, though it can still be accessed through the assistant and Gemini.
As noted in several comments on both the two Reddit posts and PiunikaWeb, one of the most popular uses of the Call Home feature was for parents to call their children who were at home but did not have a phone. The author of the original Reddit post noted that it was the main way they called their children when they were out of the house, since they do not own a landline.
Interestingly, Google has been making many changes to its products recently. The tech giant has brought the widely popular Recap feature from YouTube Music to the YouTube video-sharing platform. Google’s note-taking app Keep is also receiving changes, as its reminders feature is being migrated to Google’s Task app.
