Your Gemini for Home timers and alarms are getting smarter and more reliable

Two weeks ago, Google rolled out a Home update that allows Gemini to track conversations for longer. Fast forward to today, another Gemini for Home update is rolling out. Along with that, we’re getting smarter timers and alarms, as well as a few bug fixes.

Story time with Gemini

Starting with the latest change to Gemini, Google says on its support page that it is making story time interactive. Specifically, you’ll now be able to co-create stories on the fly, interrupt the narrative mid-scene, and remix classic tales. For example, you could tell Gemini to create a story about your kids traveling to Mars. Midway through, you could tell the AI to jump to the part where they reach the red planet. Or if you tell Gemini to recite the story of the three little pigs, you could ask to replace the big bad wolf with a T-Rex.

Smarter alarms and timers

If you depend on Google alarms and timers, you’ll be pleased to know that the company has made them smarter and more accurate. On the smarter side, Google says alarms and timers will now understand how you prefer to set your time (12-hour or 24-hour clock). As for accuracy, the company has made adjustments so that asking how much time is left or setting timers using simple descriptions is more reliable. One example the tech giant offers is to try asking “Ok Google, set an alarm for 7 o’clock tomorrow morning.”

Bug fixes

While not necessarily a bug, this update will change the chime you hear when turning off or down a device. Rather than the normal upward sound, you’ll now hear a soft, descending tone that matches the action. So, you would hear this sound when doing something like asking to turn your lights down to 20%.

Additionally, Google has rolled out a fix for the Google Speaker ring light. It appears some users were having issues where the ring light would continue to pulse even after completing the execution of a routine. This should no longer be a problem once you receive the update.