Google Home finally gets the Alexa feature I’ve been waiting for for ages

I breathed a sigh of relief when Google announced the arrival of a new home and away location awareness feature for its Google Home and Nest Smart speakers. Maybe now I can say goodbye to Alexa on my Amazon Echo (65 on Google Store) Once and for all.

I have a ton of smart home devices, and I want them to turn on and off my smart speakers all day without screaming or change to a different setting. The big part of it is that I want all the lights and other appliances in my house to be turned off when I leave, and to come back when I come back, all without saying a single word to me. Yet, Google Home had no way of automating anything like this, so I had an Alexa handle.

The first thing I noticed when setting up Home & Away on the Google Home app was that it does a lot more than Alexa. With Amazon Echo, all you can do is create a routine that triggers when a particular device (such as your phone) arrives or arrives at a specific location (where you live). Google Home, on the other hand, can keep an eye on it Many Devices connected to any and every one of your home. But not only that – Google Home can have a look at specific devices You As well.

Now that Home & Away has appeared to roll out on the iPhone (Amazon 699 on Amazon) And Android phones, everywhere, you need to do everything here to set it up and start basking in the pride of home automation.

Your Google Home app will ask you to set it up

If you open the Google Home app and see a tab at the top that reads Set up a home and away routine, Tap it to get started. If you have closed that tab without setting it, just tap this Routine On the Home screen of the Google Home app, under Tab Home routine Tap Kher. (If you have already set it but want to make changes, go to the next section.)

The first time you set up Home & Away, the app will ask for a lot of permission, asking you to set up your home and distant routines and add your home address. Go ahead and tap Agree, Established And Next Until you Add your home address Screen (an easy and convenient way to set up both attendance setting and home and away routines once setup is complete, so skip it now). Enter your home address, tap Next Then Finished To exit setup. Now for the fun part.

Set up your home and distant routines

No. Google Home app Home screen, tap Routine Then tap either Kher Or Away. Below How to get started, It should be said When someone comes home Or When everyone is away. You can tap it to adjust the attendance settings (a little more on it), but for now let’s see what happens to you when you leave or someone comes home.

Tap Add action To see a list of all the devices you can handle with this routine. Smart bulbs Under, will be listed first Lights. You can set them to turn on Off Or On And you can change them Brightness, But you unfortunately can’t set what color you want them to be (at least not with the Philips Hue bulbs I have).

You should see a smart plug (Amazon 25 on Amazon) Under the next Plug. I have a hodgepodge of brands, but they can all be set to just turn on On Or Off. My nest learning thermostat (9159 in the previous market) This is at the top of the list – it has eco mode to save on utility costs when you’re not at home, but I don’t use it if I keep my puppy behind. You should also look at any Nest Aware Camera and any other smart home device that you can control with this routine.

If you want, you can choose several devices of the same type, for example, if you want to turn the full lights on or off. In addition to the gadgets you want to control, just tap the checkboxes, then tap Next. You decide what they want to do (On, Off, Brightness) Then tap Add action.

Help Google when someone is at home

To do any of these, yours Sense of presence Settings must be on point. Open Google Home app And tap Settings Tab, then tap Sense of presence. Make sure the tab is turned on Allow this home to use phone locations. Under the heading Phones, You should see your own phone plus others (including tablets) associated with everyone in your home, everyone with a toggle. You can turn off the toggle for any devices that leave everyone behind – Wi-Fi-only tablets, for example.

At the bottom of the screen you will see a list of any Google Home or Google Nest Smart Home devices that can also help determine if anyone is at home. For example, I have a third-generation Nest Learning thermostat that has a motion sensor, so I have a tug for that. You can toggle some or all of these, for example, if you have free-range pets that can set them up. My dog ​​goes either with me or in his crate, so I left mine.

For more tips and tricks to make your life easier, here it is How to use Google Home like Intercom, How to turn it into a speakerphone And Google Home is a wizard with words all the way.