Google Assistant now works with 5,000 smart home devices
Google Assistant turns your house into a smart home
With Google I/O just a matter of days away, Google wants you to know that Google Assistant is quite proficient at controlling the smart home, noting an admitted pretty impressive bump in hardware compatibility. By its count, the number of compatible devices recently hit the 5,000 mark. That means, now you can say “Hey Google” to more than 5,000 smart home devices.
That number is up from 1,500 in January — an admittedly impressive jump in a short time frame. That, in itself, was a pretty decent jump since Google Home launched in late 2016 with little to no third-party device compatibility. And, of course, that number’s set to grow quite a bit in the coming months.
Devices supporting Google Assistant have more than tripled in last four months
How many times have you crawled into bed and realized you forgot to turn off the living/study/children’s room lights? Or tried to catch the last minutes of the game but couldn’t find the remote? These are the moments we ask ourselves: how is this still a thing?
With the Google Assistant, Google is working to make this experience a lot better, so you can easily control all the devices and appliances in your home with just your voice. Over the past year, Google has made great progress ensuring that the Google Assistant can work with all types of connected devices, and now every major device brand works with the Assistant in the U.S. Just how many devices is that?
Google Assistant can connect with more than 5,000 devices for your home — up from 1,500 this January.
That includes cameras, dishwashers, doorbells, dryers, lights, plugs, thermostats, security systems, switches, vacuums, washers, fans, locks, sensors, heaters, AC units, air purifiers, refrigerators, ovens … you got it, your home appliance is more or less covered.
Here are just a few of the new ways you can make your home smarter with the Google Assistant:
Turn your living room into a smart entertainment center
One of the most popular ways people use the Google Assistant in their homes is to watch movies and shows on their TV and play music. In fact, media and entertainment queries like “play SportCenter,” have increased 400 percent over the past six months as per Google.
Millions of people already have access to the Assistant on smart TVs powered by Android TV. Google is also making it easy to turn any TV into a smart TV with Chromecast, so you can easily control what you’re watching with the Google Assistant from smart speakers like Google Home. And Google is working closely with partners to build the Assistant into the next generation of TVs available later this year.
Google is also helping you control set top boxes and remotes with the Google Assistant. Rolling out this month, DISH’s Hopper family of receivers will work with the Google Assistant, so people in millions of U.S. homes can operate their TV using their voice and a Google Assistant device. Just say “Hey Google, play ESPN on the Hopper” to your Google Assistant and your TV will automatically tune to the right channel. It’ll also be even easier to control home entertainment using Logitech Harmony hub-based remotes with the Google Assistant. The new, simplified voice commands will let you go directly to your favorite channels, control volume, or pause a show. You will no longer need to say “talk to Logitech” to control your TV, and can use more natural language like “play channel 4.”
Get critical alerts from your security camera
Security cameras and smart doorbells let you keep tabs on activity around your home, and Google has worked to ensure that the Google Assistant works seamlessly with these devices. If you have a Nest Hello doorbell, the Assistant will alert you if someone rings the doorbell, sending a chime to your smart speaker or phone with the option to view the live stream right from your phone, TV or new line of Smart Display devices available later this year. This Nest product was the first to ship with this feature, and Google will enable Assistant notifications on more home security devices from other popular brands later this year.
Google is also adding more popular security alarm brands that will now work with your Google Assistant, including ADT, First Alert, and Vivint Smart Home, smart door locks from August and Schlage, and home security cameras from Panasonic.
Turn on all the things with Google Assistant
With the Google Assistant, you can easily control all the connected devices in your home, from lights, to thermostats, to appliances, all in one simple place. You can do this with your smart speaker like the Google Home Mini, or with the Google Assistant app on your smartphone, turning your phone into your own personal home control hub even when you’re away from home.
Google has been working with device brands around the world to ensure the Assistant works with all the most popular smart home devices. They recently announced support for IKEA lights and Deutsche Telekom’s Magenta hub which enables dozens of devices to be controlled by Google Assistant. Partners are continuing to add even more devices that work with the Google Assistant across the home in the coming months, including ADT lights and thermostat, Xiaomi lights, Hunter Douglas window treatments, Hisense’s H9E Plus and H9100E Plus TVs, Portable AC and Dehumidifiers, Arlo security cameras, and new LG appliances, which include everything from air purifiers to TVs.
Try it out today
With more than one million Actions the Google Assistant can help you with today, we bet you’ll discover something new you never knew the Assistant could do.
Some of the most popular smart home actions with the Google Assistant are “Hey Google:
- Turn on/off the lights
- Set the temperature to X degrees
- Turn on/off the TV
- Dim the lights
- Arm the security system
The smart home is currently the key battlefield for smart assistants. In many ways, smart speakers are a means to end as companies push to make their assistant the centerpiece of the connected home experience.
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