The battle for control of your smart-home tech has been fierce for years, but Google is pushing for a redesign of the classic Smart Display UI – one that could change the way you interact with your nest center, the nest. Hub Max, or other smart display hardware.
We had a sneak peek at the redesign, thanks for some hands-on leaks, but while it was just a sneak peek, Google confirmed the rollout of the new UI for people on the preview program with version 32.28.38.336575889. The new update actually introduces some neat new tricks that were dormant on the original Nest Hub – or at least fine-tuned.
What is new?
You’ll get a new update or a new tour will be available soon that will guide you through a whole new UI, but here are some of the highlights of the Smart Display Redesign:
Video – Hands on No: Nest Hub and Smart Display Redesign
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Your day
Instead of just making random items and tuggles available with touch or using voice controls, the new smart display brings a home view of redesigned “your day” that is updated in real time. This means it will morph and update to provide you with relevant information and news articles, tuggles and quick actions over a 24-hour period.
You should learn more about this as your feed improves over time.
Tabbed view
The new bedbed view creates a truly differentiating event between everything on your nest hub or smart display, including the “main” home view with current weather conditions, floating circular square bubbles with a key “at a glance” key like smart home tugs, and More.
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Home control
So you’ve got the main “Home” view, but above that, there’s a series of tbs with categories for new account-specific controls. There are tabs dedicated to “home control” that include quick toggles for things like lighting, TVs, thermostats and more.
This also shows any and other connected smart displays in a simple-access panel. Think of this as a “true” hub for managing what each of your devices is currently doing. This can save time if you choose to use touch control instead of voice control to manage smart home tech.
Other notable are the room-specific controls and the overview available. If you choose to manage connected smart home tech on a room-by-room basis, this will be easy
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Media
The smart display and nest hub UI redesign focuses largely on the media. It felt like always Inclusion Replacing the centered or decent part of the Google Assistant powered display. There are some crossovers between the “Media” section and the latest Google TV for Android TV redesign.
You’ll find recommendations from services like Netflix, YouTube and other connected streaming services. Recommendations are pulled from your watch history on platforms like YouTube, where you can see subscriptions and recent uploads from your favorite channels. There’s also a lot more integration with YouTube TV, with live channels being more prominent and accessible than this view – if the service is available in your area.
Oddly enough, Google considers Google News as a media source in the same vein as YouTube music, YouTube and Netflix in this section. I think, technically it is right, which is the best kind of right.
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Communicate
A really impressive new section, which again, displays the “hub” element of the Smart Display and Nest Hub hardware, giving you quick toggles for all the direct communication services your device is capable of.
The new Home Contacts option plugs the contacts connected to your account, allowing you to create a quick-access tab or icon to dial people inside your home / home – such as brothers, sisters, parents, children, wives, etc. when setup, Tapping calls the person immediately.
It is also possible to be able to broadcast messages on all the smart displays in your home, with quick to access tags to initiate a Google Meet video call, Google Duo video or voice call.
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Search
Think of this as a hybrid of the Google Discover feed, you will see on your Android device but with some more convenient recommendations that will make you understand the part of home tech. You’ll find recipe recommendations or ideas, quick tuggles for creating lists and checklists plus things like smart displays and Nest Hub redesign that includes nifty hints for other capabilities.
You will be given hints for searches, information and capabilities that you may not have used or known before.
New animations
We can’t talk about Smart Display and Nest Hub UI redesign and not to mention updated and improved animations. Previous animations were smooth but in this public-facing preview build Google has added some character and “bounce” in swipe and tap taps.
Dark mode
Finally, there is a dark mode or dark theme with the latest UI redesign for Nest Hub and Smart Display, it is available in settings or can be toggled during the initial setup process. You can apply it the same way you would on your smartphone with the option to automatically rotate between standard lights and new dark modes based on time and room lighting – which makes a smart display better like a bedroom alarm clock.
How do I redesign a smart display on my Nest Hub?
To add an updated interface and features to your own Nest Hub hardware, you need to join the preview program. Just open the Google Home app, find the device you want to update> Settings> Preview program> Join the preview program
Now you want to power-cycle your device a few times to start the update, and in a few hours, the update should be available on your Nest Hub or compatible smart display.
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