Google Home May Update Includes New Automations and More

April showers not only bring May flowers; apparently they also bring us some of Google’s latest updates for Home. At the end of last month we were able to take a look at some of them and now from google sharing the rest of these new home improvements, including the arrival of Gemini 3.1, a new camera interfaceextended automation technical support and some new management solutions.

We first learned about the new camera experience coming last week and Google It now goes on to highlight specific improvements when it comes to features like face detection, better support for older cameras, and more useful event history.

We also get expanded animated previews that show you the important action right away, event filtering options, and event descriptions right on your timeline.

Automations make your smart home feel truly “smart,” performing complex tasks in response to specific triggers. Google continues to make them better and more powerful, and continues to do so now with the introduction of some new starters, conditions, and actions. Here are the highlights:

• Security and access control
  • Arm and disarm: Arm the security systems, check if the security system is armed
  • Door Lock Monitoring: Checking specific states such as locked, unlocked, stuck, forced open or ajar.
  • Binary Sensors: Detection of simple true/false states, such as contact/no contact, leak/no leak, or freeze/non-freeze.
• Appliances and cleaning:
  • Appliance Status (Start & Stop): Control operating states (Start, Stop, Pause, Resume) for devices such as washing machines, dryers, and coffee makers.
  • Robot vacuum cleaners: Specific commands to engage, pause or resume vacuuming sessions.
• Lighting and ambient control
  • Lighting control: adjust brightness levels, activate/deactivate and manage lighting effects.
  • Colored lights: change the color of a device (bulb, LED strip, etc.), change the color temperature of a device
  • Window curtains: Opening and closing of blinds or checking their specific position percentage.
  • Climate: Monitoring of relative humidity levels using thermostats.
• Media and entertainment
  • Playback Control: Monitoring states such as play, pause or buffering.
  • Volume: Check and manage volume levels on multimedia devices.
• Device status and inputs
  • Power Management: Track battery levels and charging status.
  • Switch Events: Using smart switch inputs, including initial presses, long presses, and release events.

Finally, we have some updates on how you can stay on top of what’s going on with your smart home. If you’re away and don’t have your phone with you, you’ll still be able to access Ask Home on the web to search your camera history, set up automations, and more.

We also heard about quick action buttons in its notifications that let you immediately jump to the device controls for a closer look, including the ability to automatically open the correct property if you’re juggling multiple smart homes like homeowners would. Look for these two on Home Public Preview.