Google Home’s latest app update makes automations smarter – but there’s a catch

Google Home has just upgraded its app with smarter automations than before. Its automation editor has had its controls and conditions expanded so users can create more automations than before – but there’s a bit of a catch surrounding its availability.

Over the past few months, there’s been news surrounding a Google Home app update or failure almost every week. From smart lights not responding to commands to the Google Home app adding better previews and automations for its security cameras, it seems that the app flip flops between issues and successes nowadays.

But this new upgrade is definitely something Google Home app users will enjoy, particularly if they enjoy its automation editor. Available on both iOS and Android, this Google Home app update now offers smarter automations and more conditions so you can completely customise your smart devices to your everyday household needs.

Users can now use the automation editor to get their smart home devices to react to the state of the home. For example, users can get their smart lights to automatically adjust based on the time of day and to turn on or off when someone is home.

More starters, conditions and actions have also been added so you can make more advanced automations for your home, like locking your front door when your security camera spots someone it doesn’t recognise.

Another new feature Google has added is one-time automations. Previously, automations had to be recurring so an action would be repeated every week on a specific day. This new update means you can trigger automations as a one-off action so it’ll only happen once and you don’t have to continuously go into the app to stop or delete it.

Users can try these new automation features by creating a new automation in the Google Home app. Once you’ve done that, you can name the automation, add a description and add starters, conditions and actions – and you can be as specific and technical as possible.

The slight catch to this is that while the update is available, some features aren’t. In the app, you’ll see ‘not available yet in this new editor’ for smart thermostat controls, door, window and contact sensors, light effects and colours, and camera on/off. There’s no news surrounding whether or when this will change.