In October 2022, Google announced a redesigned Google Home app for Android smartphones and tablets. A few weeks later, the company made the revamped version of the app available for users through the Public Preview program. That means it was available only for a limited number of users. Well, not anymore. Alongside the launch of the Pixel 7A, Pixel Fold, and the Pixel Tablet during the Google I/O 2023 keynote event, the company announced that the new Google Home app is now available for all Android users.
The new Google Home app has five tabs at the bottom of the screen (Favourites, Devices, Automation, Activity, and Settings) which offer more streamlined controls compared to those in the previous version of the app. The Favourites tab has literally become everyone’s favorite. You can add smart home devices, actions, automation, media controls, live streams from security cameras, and much more to this tab so that you can access everything that is important to you from a single place.
The Devices section, as the name suggests, lists all your smart home products, categorized by room, which makes accessing and controlling these devices easier. Then comes the Automation tab. As you might have guessed, it displays all your routines, along with giving you the option to create new ones and edit them. The Activity tab notifies you about all the events related to your smart home products. For example, it alerts you if a new member has joined your Home or if the app detects new smart home products in the network.
You can now access this redesigned app on your Samsung phone or tablet via the Play Store. To update the older version of the Google Home app on your smartphone/tablet, go to Play Store » Profile Icon » Manage Apps & Devices and click on the Update All button. To remind you, Google and Samsung brought support for the Matter smart home standard to their smart home apps and announced deep integration with each other's smart home platforms.
