Review about Google Home & Assistant Updates - September 2020

 Google Home & Assistant Updates-2020

 In September, new Google hardware is just around the corner and the company has been pushing a lot of updates recently  to Google Assistant devices, so  this blog is very helpful for you people . 

Now before i dive into the new features a word of warning,if you live outside the United States or you live in the US, but do not use the u.s English version of the Google Assistant,some of the features are discussed in this article .....i know this  article will lengthy keep reading :) 

Netflix  has finally started to make its way to Google Assistant :

First up Netflix, yes Netflix, has finally started to make its way to Google Assistant displays starting with the Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max. You can now binge whatever Netflix show you want right from the Nest Hub Max or Nest Hub.

How to get your favorite show ? 

Steps :

To get this to work

 1) Make sure you going to the Google Assistant settings scroll down to videos and photos and link your Netflix account. 

2) Then on your display tell the Google Assistant to play the latest episode of Queer Eye or whatever Netflix show you fancy and it'll start playing that show.

 Did you notice something different about the Google 

Assistant settings? 

Well actually it wasn't just the assistant settings that look different, Google has revamped how the settings look for the Google Assistant on mobile devices but they have also revamped the Assistant Snapshot view for both iOS and Android. Assistant Snapshot is a great way to get a summary view of your most important tasks. 

Changes You may notice

Assistant Snapshot would already show you things like your commute times, agenda, and reminders to pay bills

 1) Reminder of upcoming birthday :

Now it'll show you other important things like other reminders upcoming birthdays from your contacts in english-speaking countries,and holidays.

2)  Change Snapshot

The snapshot view will constantly change and update throughout the day making sure it's showing you the most relevant information at the time you check it.

3) Adding  Recipes for dinner :

Google is also adding other recommendations  like recipes to make for dinner or nearby restaurants that deliver.You can even have it send you notifications and when you click on that notification the assistant will bring you to the card in Assistant Snapshot with some suggestions for follow-up,like telling somebody happy birthday or even singing to them. You can get to this view by opening up the assistant app on Android or iPhone or asking the Assistant to show you your day. 

4) Family bell :

One new feature  is called family bell,which allows you to create custom bells that announce different activities to members of your family through Google Assistant speakers. You can add whatever bell you want or take a look at some of the recommended bells from Google like a lunch time bell or one for going to bed.This is a great feature especially for families who are going through online learning right now during Covid. Here's an example of what a bell can sound like: Google Assistant: "Three, two, one, it's a prime time for math time." Alright, next up let's talk multi-room audio controls. 

5) Multi-room Control :

 New features in this space the first of which is called multi-room control,so now you could already group speakers and play media on a group of speakers before but now you can add and subtract speakers playing the media in real time from the multi-room speaker view on Google Assistant displays.

 

6)  Music Recommendation :

One additional thing they added was being able to ask Google to recommend some music. When you do this you'll now see artists and playlists popup on the screen in a card view and you just tap on the card you want and then it'll begin playing that media. 

7) Changes in photo :

Google Assistant smart displays will be able to show not only the date a photo was taken that is being displayed on the screen, but also the location that photo was taken as well. If the photo is coming from a Google Photos library so be on the lookout for that feature coming soon.

 Smart home devices that connect to your Google Assistant.

Some smart home devices that connect to your Google Assistant.

Some new features :

1)  Smart Plug :

 Google just rolled out a new feature for you to be able to tell the Google Home app what exactly is plugged into your smart plug and then the Google Assistant will learn to treat it like a certain type of smart device. 

So for example if you classify a smart plug as a light it'll turn on and off with the other lights that you have in your home when you tell the Google Assistant to turn on or off your lights. To add your device type to a smart switch tap the smart switch in the Google Home app then click the gear icon to go into that device's settings,and then click device type. 

2) Air Conditioner,Humidifiers :

All the different device types  like air conditioner, humidifiers, a tv,etc. Click next where you'll be able to edit the name and then click save. When you back out of the devices page,the image for it in the Google Home app will likely have changed to reflect the new device type that you chose.

3) Games :

 Google has recently expanded the number of games you can play through its devices and on assistant smart displays. It's actually now giving you a card view where you can scroll through all of the different games that you can potentially play on the device, making it easier to discern which one you actually want to go for and i have to admit some of these games are actually pretty fun, especially in my humble opinion the trivia game, and especially movie quiz, that one is definitely addicting. To see the games tell Google to show me some games i can play. Some games you can play are song quiz are you feeling lucky trivia, guess the drawing, riddle of the day,puzzle of the day, dwarf mine, jeopardy, dust in from stranger things, animal trivia, and movie quiz.  

Source : Google, YouTube