Google has announced a set of new features for its Google Home app that will make it easier and more convenient to automate your smart home devices. The app now supports nine new starters and nine new actions for Household Routines, as well as sensors that can trigger automations based on temperature, humidity, occupancy, and more. Additionally, Google has added some advanced capabilities to its script editor tool for Public Preview users, such as camera events, custom notifications, and starter suppression.
New starters and actions for Household Routines
Household Routines are a way to automate your smart home devices based on certain conditions or events. You can access them from the Automation tab in the Google Home app and choose from a variety of starters and actions to create your own custom routines. For example, you can set up a routine that turns off your thermostat when a window is opened, or one that turns on the lights when someone enters a room.
Google has added nine new starters and nine new actions to the list of available options for Household Routines. The new starters are:
- Device is open or closed
- Device is plugged in or charging
- Temperature sensor changes
- Volume is muted or unmuted
- Device is docked or undocked
- Active light effect
- Lock is jammed
- Humidity sensor changes
- Occupancy sensing
The new actions are:
- Open / close (single direction)
- Pause / unpause
- Timer start / pause / resume / cancel
- Volume mute / unmute
- Dock device (such as a robot vacuum)
- Light effects (pulse / sleep / wake / color loop)
- Reboot device
- Set humidity percentage
- Run software update
These new starters and actions allow you to create more complex and useful automations for your smart home devices. For instance, you can use the lock jammed starter to flash a light or send a notification if your smart lock fails to lock or unlock. Or you can use the humidity sensor changes starter to turn on a dehumidifier or a fan if the humidity level rises above a certain threshold.
New features for the script editor tool
The script editor tool is a feature that Google launched in May for Public Preview users who want to create more advanced automations using code. The tool lets you write scripts using JavaScript and access various Google services and APIs. You can also use the script editor to create custom starters and actions that are not available in the Home app.
Google has added four new features to the script editor tool that will make it more powerful and versatile. The first feature is more camera events that you can use as starters for your scripts. You can now choose from over a dozen camera events generated by Google Nest cameras, such as package detection, familiar face detection, motion detection, and pet detection. For example, you can use the dog detected event to play calming music or a dog-friendly TV show for your furry friend when they are home alone.
The second feature is the ability to create custom notifications as part of your script’s actions. You can now specify what conditions trigger a notification and what text appears in the notification. For example, you can create a notification that tells you when your robot vacuum has finished cleaning or when your laundry is done.
The third feature is the ability to suppress starters, which means you can temporarily prevent an automation from triggering again after it has been triggered once. This can help you avoid unwanted repetitions or conflicts between different automations. For example, you can suppress the occupancy sensing starter after it turns on the lights in a room so that it doesn’t turn them off again when someone leaves the room.
The fourth feature is the automation logs, which let you view your automation’s history and debug your scripts. You can access the logs from the Google Home web app and see when and how your automations were triggered, what actions were performed, and what errors occurred.
How to get started with Google Home automations and script editor
If you want to try out these new features for Google Home automations and script editor, you will need to have the latest version of the Google Home app on your Android or iOS device. You will also need to have some compatible smart home devices that work with Google Assistant, such as cameras, lights, speakers, thermostats, locks, sensors, etc.
To create Household Routines using the new starters and actions, you can follow these steps:
- Open the Google Home app and tap on the Automation tab at the bottom.
- Tap on “+” to create a new routine or select an existing one to edit.
- Choose one or more starters from the list of options.
- Choose one or more actions from the list of options.
- Name your routine and save it.
To access the script editor tool and use the new features, you will need to enroll in Public Preview first. You can do so by following these steps:
- Open the Google Home app and tap on your profile picture at the top right corner.
- Tap on Assistant settings and then on Home app settings.
- Tap on Public Preview and then on Join program.
- Agree to the terms and conditions and tap on Join.
Once you are enrolled in Public Preview, you can access the script editor tool from the Google Home web app. You can follow these steps to create a new script or edit an existing one:
- Open the Google Home web app and sign in with your Google account.
- Click on the Automation tab at the top and then on Script editor.
- Click on “+” to create a new script or select an existing one to edit.
- Write your script using JavaScript and the Google Home APIs.
- Save and test your script.
Google Home app is getting smarter and more handy with these new features that will help you automate your smart home devices with ease and convenience. Whether you want to use the simple and intuitive Household Routines or the more advanced and flexible script editor tool, you can now create more personalized and useful automations for your home.
