Google Home app gets surprise early AI upgrade for a lucky few, and I'm jealous

• We've seen a sliver of what Gemini on Google Home will look like
• It comes as Google seems to have updated some iPhone apps early
• The official release date is meant to be October 1

The long-awaited Google Home update to bring Gemini to Google’s fleet of smart speakers with new hardware that’s set to drop on October 1, but some lucky few are already getting a glimpse of what’s to come thanks to an early app update.

This comes via Reddit where an iPhone 16 Pro Max user (ironically getting the update ahead of Android devices) shows off several UI changes seemingly set to land in just a couple of days when Google’s Home update lands for everyone (via Android Authority).

The most obvious change is the layout, which has been tweaked significantly. Now there are three tabs at the bottom of the screen instead of five; we’re left with Home, Activity, Automations.

The Home page appears to combine the Devices and Favorites tabs we have currently, and adds a prominent Ask Home bar at the top. This will allow you to manage your Google Home setup (such as creating automations, or adjusting device settings) using the same natural language you can use with other AI chatbots.

Though, as the user shows, to access these Gemini tools you’ll need to acknowledge the ways Gemini might use your data.

A much-needed upgrade

Google Gemini has been impressing us for some time on our phones, but the lack of Gemini in its smart home ecosystem has been an unignorable frustration – as its smart tech feels less and less essential despite these bots feeling like the home assistants we were promised when smart speakers debuted.

I’m also excited to build more automations.

I’ve recently grabbed some smart home tech like smart bulbs, but trying to design automations can be more hassle than I like. This ability to create automations using natural language sounds like precisely what I need, and should make the tech more accessible to plenty of folks.

This update is also landing as we’re gearing up for Amazon's big 2025 hardware launch, which is expected to feature a lot of new devices, including smart speakers.

We’ll have to see how Google and Amazon’s upcoming announcements shake out, but in both cases it feels like the second coming of the smart home, though for many these updates may feel like the features smart homes should have had all along.

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