ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Google’s release includes fixes to its Home app, cameras, speakers, doorbells, and more.
- Gemini receives more spatial awareness of your home.
- Cameras and doorbells receive fixes to small yet irritating connectivity issues.
Google’s latest release notes detail early access updates to Gemini for Home and software updates to the Google Home app, focused on bug fixes and general improvements to cameras, doorbells, Nest Wi-Fi, Google TV Streamers, and in-app controls and interfaces.
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There are 42 fixes Google addresses in its release notes, ranging from stability improvements to more pressing issues such as Gemini misunderstanding commands and devices connecting more quickly after a network timeout.
Gemini for Home gets smarter (hopefully)
Google’s release notes promise improvements in Gemini’s ability to transfer music between rooms. If you have several Google Home speakers around your house, you might want to use your voice to command one to transfer audio.
According to Google, Gemini’s understanding of these commands is now deeper and more aware of the rooms in your home. (It’s something that Sonos does really well.) Now, you can tell Gemini to “move the music here,” and it should work.
Also: I changed these Android Auto settings to limit what Gemini learns about me
In the same vein, Google says it fixed a volume issue where users would command Gemini to adjust the volume on a speaker in another room, but the speaker in closer proximity would respond instead.
Google’s release notes also cite fixes to timer and alarm volume issues, unprompted responses from speakers and displays, and more reliable YouTube TV commands on smart displays.
Big fixes to cameras
Google’s release addresses major bugs in the Google Home app when users are trying to access a camera’s live view. For iOS users, the issue with scrolling to the end of an event and receiving a “Video Not Available” error should be fixed. On foldable Androids, watching a live event while folding or unfolding the phone would prompt an error. Google says this issue is also fixed.
Additionally, software updates for Nest Cam (1st gen), Nest Cam Outdoor (1st gen), Nest Doorbell (wired, 1st gen / Nest Hello), Nest Cam IQ Indoor, and Nest Cam IQ Outdoor have all migrated to the Google Home app as Google continues to phase out the older Nest app.
Also: How Apple’s video doorbell privacy compares to Ring, Wyze, and Blink
I enjoy my home’s outdoor Nest cameras, but their connectivity issues are often frustrating, especially during inclement weather. The camera above my garage would often disconnect from Wi-Fi, so I purchased a cheap extender to help it maintain a connection.
If my power went out, even for a brief moment, the garage camera wouldn’t come back online for hours, an issue my backyard camera didn’t experience. According to Google, a software update has addressed the issue that caused cameras to stall or crash when reconnecting after brief interruptions.
Also: Amazon’s Echo Show 16 makes Apple’s 7-inch HomeView look puny
During the same brief power and Wi-Fi outage at my home, my Nest Thermostats also appeared as Offline, even though my furnace and air conditioner were working fine. My power momentarily disconnects often during hurricane season, so these issues were very frustrating. According to Google, devices that were inaccurately displaying as Offline were affected by an iOS-specific bug that has now been fixed.
If you have a wired 1st-gen Nest Doorbell, the software update also includes improvements to Familiar Face detection and audio/video synchronization.
