Google Adds AI to Help You Manage your Smart Home Better

Google has dropped some new updates for its Nest and Home apps to help with automation and more control.

The Google Home app now has expanded controls for more devices, like smart fans, robot vacuums, and home sensors.

The script editor in Google Home is a useful spot to create automation for your various smart things, and now it's got AI to help you make even more sophisticated routines. For example, you can have the included AI help you create a "package delivered" automation using your smart camera and some custom notifications when you get a box at your door.

You won't have to learn script languages, either, since now there's a new experimental feature called help me script to create custom routines. You can use natural language to create your automation, like, "When it's sunset, turn on my lights and close the blinds," and the AI will get to work generating a script for the Home app.

There are also some new starter and action sets for your Household Routines, making it possible to add specific actions when specific triggers in the environment happen.

"For example, every night at 10 PM, you can have your blinds close, lights gradually dim, humidifier set the humidity level, and doors lock, all as part of one automation," said the press release.

Nest thermostats and Android get some new updates, too, including a Seasonal Savings program that will analyze your schedules when the season changes for the former. Android brings the home panel and Google TV widget to more devices running Android 14, letting you manage your Spaces and Favorites on the lock screen or find what to watch on your home screen.