Google continues making rapid improvements to Google Home, rolling out new features and changes every other week. After the last major update gave Google Home smarter camera automation powers, the company is now pushing a handful of smaller quality-of-life improvements.
First, Gemini for Home (Early Access) is now expanding to Germany, just a month after the last such expansion. You should see an invite to join the early access program in the settings menu of the Google Home app by the end of this week.
Second, you can use Gemini to get an overview of what happened in or around your home. This feature was previously limited to early access users in the US, but is now expanding to all countries where Gemini for Home is available. This includes Austria, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, and New Zealand.
Google says you can try the following commands to get a hang of the feature:
- “What happened while I was at work today?” Gemini will give you a summary of key events in your home.
- “Are the garbage cans out front?” Gemini will check your doorbell camera to see if there are garbage cans out front, right now.
- “Did the dog go on the couch today?” Gemini will check your indoor camera history to see if your furry friend got on the couch that day.
Your pets are now part of Gemini for Home
Lastly, Gemini for Home will now treat your pets as family members. Gemini can identify your pet and provide more detailed responses, such as “Fido is walking in the kitchen,” instead of simply saying “a dog walking in the kitchen.” The feature requires a compatible Nest or Gemini-powered camera.
To use the feature, make sure to add your pet’s name in the Ask Home section of the Google Home app. Pet memory in Gemini for Home is available only to Google Home Premium Advanced subscribers.
If you use indoor cameras to monitor your pets while away, this feature should make Google Home feel more personal and useful. It also builds on the smarter automation powers that Google added to Gemini-compatible Google Home cameras with the previous update.
