What you need to know
- Google posted the patch notes for an early July update that's rolling out better reliability, improved sports interactions, and visual refreshes for Gemini.
- The Home app gives better light control for two Walmart onn products, while also delivering "Suggested Automations" for users.
- In June, Google brought Pet Memory to users, improving how their smart home products perceive their pets walking around their home with personalized alerts.
Google's streak of smart home patches continues in July with key updates for the Home app and Gemini.
Gemini for Home is still in early access; however, that's not stopping Google from rolling out better assistance and conversational capabilities this week. Google announced improved visual layouts for weather forecasts and general knowledge answers from Gemini on smart displays. What's more, sports lovers are getting "more accurate and up-to-date" answers.
With the FIFA World Cup still going on, entering the quarterfinals round today (July 9), users receiving the patch can ask Gemini about schedules, team standings, and more. The other Gemini-centric update concerns "Continued Conversations." Google says it's making its AI "more reliable" with its responses to your follow-up questions and rapid-fire commands.
Outside of the AI scope, the Google Home is rolling out an important update for user automations. With v4.20, users are getting "Suggested Automations." We've heard about automation suggestions a few times in the past. Users will soon find "ready-made automations tailored to real-life tasks like home security, morning routines, or energy savings." Google states these suggestions can be found at the top of your Automations tab or below your scheduled automations.
A light button arrives in the app for onn Outdoor Camera Plug-in and onn Floodlight Camera Hardwired devices. While in camera view, users can toggle the light on and off for these devices. Additionally, older Nest cameras are receiving improvements to the setup process.
- We've resolved a problem that could cause your camera live stream to fail to refresh or resume after unlocking your mobile device
- We've optimized the camera live view to prevent slow performance during extended viewing sessions
- We've corrected the status display of smart door locks to ensure they are never shown with incorrect offline icons
- We've corrected an issue where the Face Match setup flow could abruptly exit during brief network interruptions
- We've resolved a fan control flickering issue when manually toggling your thermostat fan on and off
- We've resolved a crash that could occur when rotating your screen while organizing your favorite tiles
- We've resolved a visual issue where offline doorbell camera previews showed an unintended black border on Google TV
Reliable AI
Continued Conversations was a significant update for Gemini earlier this year. The purpose was to give Gemini better memory for conversations that haven't concluded. Users can converse with the AI, and it will keep its mic open for a few extra seconds in case there's more to add. The original update brought the core of this feature, and now Google is making the AI more reliable in this space.
In June, Pet Memory arrived for user smart home cameras. With Ask Home, users can ensure the AI knows their pet's name and type. Alerts that come through will be more accurate in this sense, as Google Home will say "Bandit is in the living room," instead of "dog is walking."
Android Central's Take
Anytime I see anything remotely related to sports, it has my attention. Beyond that, Gemini's reliability has been called into question before, and it's nice to see Google working on that. If Gemini is slow or causing you to repeat what you've said, that'd just cause headaches. No one wants that.
