Google Nest or Google Home & your child's Google Account

Your child can do things like ask Google questions, play games, and listen to stories if you link their Google Account and voice to supported Google Nest devices, such as a Google Home.

Important: Availability of Google Nest or Google Home and non-Google apps on Google Assistant may vary.

How Google Nest or Google Home works

For the most part, Google Nest or Google Home will be the same for children as it is for adults. There are some things children under 13 (or the applicable age in your country) can't do when signed in to Google Nest or Google Home, such as:

  • Play songs from Google Play Music unless their family has Google Play Music family plan, or the person who set up Google Nest or Google Home has an individual subscription
  • Make purchases
  • Use non-Google actions, unless they have the "For Families" badge For families in the Google Assistant Directory.

Important: Children under 13 are not able to play YouTube videos or songs from YouTube Music.

Link your child's account & voice

If you created an account for a child under 13 (or the applicable age in your country), you’ll need to set up Google Nest or Google Home before they can link their account.

Important: If you add supervision to your child’s existing Google Account, your child will be able to set up Google Nest or Google Home devices and sign in through the Google Home app.

Use your device

To follow these steps, your device and Google Nest or Google Home must be on the same Wi-Fi network.

  1. Open the Family Link app Family Link.
  2. Select your child.
  3. Tap Manage Settings and then Google Assistant and then Add your child to new devices.
  4. If you have multiple Google Nest or Google Home devices, tap the box next to any that you want to set up. If not, skip to step 5.
  5. Follow the instructions on the screen to sign your child in.
  6. Hand the device to your child, and help them teach the Google Assistant to recognize their voice.
Retrain the Assistant to recognize your child’s voice

If the Google Assistant isn’t recognizing your child’s voice, you may need to train it again.

  1. On your device, open the Family Link app Family Link.
  2. Select your child.
  3. Tap Manage Settings and then Google Assistant and then Retraining your child’s Voice Match and then Retrain.
  4. Hand the device to your child, and help them teach the Google Assistant to recognize their voice.

Link your child’s account and Face Match on Google Nest Hub Max

Use your device

To follow these steps, your device and Google Nest Hub Max must be on the same Wi-Fi network.

  1. Open the Family Link app Family Link.
  2. Select your child.
  3. Tap Manage Settings and then Google Assistant and then Add your child to new devices.
    Tip: If you have multiple devices, tap the box next to the device you would like to set up.
  4. Follow the instructions on the screen to sign your child in. 
  5. To teach the Google Assistant to recognize your child’s voice, hand the device to your child and ask them to speak. 
  6. To personalize your experience with Face Match, tap Face match and thenNext and then I agree.
  7. Follow the instructions to set up Face Match.

Unlink your child's account & voice

  1. On your device, open the Family Link app Family Link.
  2. Select your child.
  3. On the "Google Home" card, tap Settings and then Unlink Google Account and voice and then Unlink.

Disable Face Match

  1. Make sure you are on the same Wi-Fi network as your Nest Hub Max.

  2. On your mobile device, open the Google Home app Home.

  3. From Home  tap the Nest display deviceand then Device settings Settings and then Recognition and Personalization and then Face Match.

  4. Delete your Google Nest Hub Max from the list of devices with Face Match enabled. 

Important: You can disable Face Match to delete your child’s face model from the device but it will not delete the enrollment images used to create their face model. To delete Face Match enrollment images, sign in with your child’s account and visit myactivity.google.com.

Important: When you disable camera sensing,  you also disable Face Match until you re-enable camera sensing.Your child’s face model will not delete from your Google Nest Hub Max when you disable sensing.You or your child can opt-out of Face Match from the Google Home app or Assistant app settings page. When you opt-out of Voice Match, it will also opt your child out of Face Match and delete your child’s face model from the device.

Voice Match and Face Match

More information on Face Match on Google Nest Hub Max is available here.

Turn Personal results on or off

Personal results allows the Google Assistant on Google Nest or Google Home to read or show private info like your child’s calendar and contacts, or display their photos on Android TV, Chromecast, or Chromecast built-in TV in response to a question.

  1. On your device, open the Family Link app Family Link.
  2. Select your child.
  3. Scroll down to the Google Nest or Google Home device where you want to turn Personal results on or off.
  4. Below the Google Nest or Google Home device’s name, tap Settings.
  5. Turn Personal results on or off.

Important: You can't turn on a subset of Personal results. For example, you can’t turn on calendars but not contacts. If you turn off Personal results because you don't want the Assistant to help your child with contacts, it won’t be able to help with other personal information like photos and calendars.

How non-Google actions work

Important: If your child is under 13 (or the applicable age in your country), they can only use non-Google actions that have the "For Families" badge For families when signed in to their account.

Check if an action is for families on an Android device
  1. On your Android phone or tablet, say "Hey Google, open Assistant settings" or go to Assistant settings.
  2. Under "All settings," tap Explore.
  3. Tap an app.
  4. In the "Details" section, look for the "For Families" badge For families.
Check if an action is for families on the web
  1. On your internet browser, go to assistant.google.com/explore.
  2. Click on an app.
  3. In the "Details" section, look for the "For Families" badge For families.
Prevent your child from using any non-Google actions

If your child is under 13 (or the applicable age in your country), you can decide if you want to allow your child to use non-Google actions on Google Assistant when signed in to their account.

  1. Open the Family Link app Family Link.
  2. Select your child.
  3. On the "Settings" card, tap Manage Settings and then Google Assistant.
  4. Turn Third-party apps on or off.
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