Meet the Google Home app

The Google Home app Google Home app lets you set up, manage and control your smart home devices from a single app. Download the app on an Android device, iPhone or iPad. Then, add your Google devices, like Google Nest Mini or Nest Thermostat. You can also add many other compatible smart home products, like lights, cameras and Matter-enabled devices.

Get the latest version of the Google Home app Google Home app

Download or update the Google Home appGoogle Home app from the Google Play Store.

Ways to use the Google Home app Google Home app

Navigating the Home app

The Home app Google Home app is divided into several sections to help you easily find what you need.

Favourites

You can add or remove actions, automations and devices to Favourites for quick and easy access. To open the controls for a device, touch and hold its device tile. Some device tiles show the device status or have some controls.

The Favourites section is customisable so you can pin the devices, rooms, automations and actions that you want quick access to, as well as check the device state.

Customise Favourites

  • To change which actions, automations or devices you have on Favourites, scroll down and tap Edit .
    • To add more tiles, tick the box next to the tile.
    • To remove tiles, untick the box next to the tile.
  • To organise your devices, tap Reorder to drag the tiles into the position you want.

Tapping on a Favourites tile will open the controls for the smart devices you connect to the Google Home app.

Other key features in Favourites

  • Home name/picker: The name of your home appears on top of the Favourites section. If you have multiple homes set up, you can tap your home name to switch between homes.
  • Inbox: Favourites also has the inbox , which is where you can find important notifications about your home, such as device issues, suggested automations, invitations to join a home and more.
  • Device categories: These appear at the top of the Favourites section:
    • Cameras: Shows the video feed from your camera. If you have more than one compatible camera, you will see them in a single view.
    • Lighting: Switches your compatible smart lights on or off. Control all the lights in your home or only the lights in a specific room.
    • Wi-Fi: Runs speed tests and manages your Nest Wifi or Google Wi-Fi network and settings.
    • Climate: Opens the controls for your compatible thermostat. If you have more than one smart thermostat, you can choose which to control.
  • Media mini-player: Shows what media you're currently playing and which device it's playing on. If you have more than one device, you can choose to stream from one device to another. You can start or stop the media with a single tap.

Devices

In Devices , you can see all the devices that you've added to your home organised by the room that they're assigned to. To open the controls for a device, touch and hold its device tile. Some device tiles will show the device status or some controls.

Device controls

From Favourites or Devices , touch and hold your device's tile to control or access all of its settings. Different types of devices have different controls, and some controls may be on the device tile itself.

  • Google Nest and Home speakers and displays – Control the speaker's volume and EQ (equalisation) or access settings. You can also play, pause, skip forwards or backwards in a song, podcast or audiobook, or stop casting.
  • Pixel Tablet (Hub Mode only) – Control the Charging Speaker Dock's volume and stop casting.
  • Cameras – View the live video stream from your compatible cameras. Newer cameras also let you change settings and view history.
  • Thermostat – Adjust your compatible thermostat's set point, change modes and check the ambient temperature. Depending on the thermostat model, you may be able to change other settings.
  • Chromecast devices – Control the display's volume or access settings. You can also play, pause, skip forward or backward in a video, movie or TV show, or stop casting.
  • Lights – Turn your compatible smart lights on and off and adjust their brightness, if supported.
  • Smart plugs – Turn your compatible smart plug on and off.
  • Speaker groups – access the group's settings.

Automations

Automations allows you to manage Routines to automate your home and help with daily tasks.

  • Household Routines: Create automations for your home and all of its members.
    • Home and Away routines allow you to automatically adjust your devices, such as lights and a thermostat, to different settings when you're home and when you're away.
    • The script editor allows you to create powerful home automations to build a personalised smart home, using a flexible language and scripting tool.
  • Personal routines: Create routines that are specific to you. For example, play your favourite morning news when you dismiss an alarm.
Important: All household members can check when these routines run. Routines are for convenience only, not safety- or security-critical use cases. Do not create routines that could result in injury or harm if they fail to start or stop. Routines can depend on working Internet, Wi-Fi and service availability from both Google and the third parties who manufacture the devices included in routines. Routines may not always work and Google is not responsible for any harm or losses incurred due to failed routines.

Activity

Activity shows your home's history, which includes events captured by cameras, interactions with Google Assistant, device states and more.

If you want to look for specific types of activity, you can tap Filter to select what you want to appear. Pick from any combination of events and devices to find what's most important to you. Select the filters that you want to use and tap Save.

Settings

Settings is where you can view your home's information, members, add devices, create new rooms and groups, see which services you have enabled and more.

Account menu

Use the account menu to change settings and preferences for your devices, Google Assistant, your Google Account and more.

  1. Tap your account Account icon in the top right of any of the main app screens.
  2. Tap to open the menu.
    • Add another account image Add another account – Set up devices and services, add household members and create speaker groups and homes.
    • Manage accounts on this device – (To find, tap the down arrow next to your account.) Add or remove accounts.
    • Help – Access the Chromecast and Google Nest Help Centres. Get answers to questions and troubleshooting information.
    • Feedback – Submit a feedback report for your Google Home and Nest devices, Chromecast and devices that work with Google Cast and Pixel Tablet.

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