Thursday, March 30, 2017

These products and services work with Google Home

Which products and services work with Google Home?

Updated March 29, 2017: Added the latest products to gain Google Assistant and Google Home compatibility.

Google first introduced Google Home to the world back in May at Google I/O 2016, later revealing the final product alongside the Pixel in October. From everything we've seen, Google Home seems primed to eventually link up with any smart device in your home and allow you to control everything with just the sound of your voice.

Google has announced which products and services will be supported at launch, but there's sure to be plenty more to come in the future. Continue to check back to this article in the coming months, as we'll surely be updating this list as more products and services are added. We've broken things down into two categories — home automation products and supported services.

Home automation

Supported services

Home automation

Chromecast

It should come as little surprise that Google Home works with Chromecast. Google hit it out of the park with their compact, Wi-Fi enabled dongles for video or audio that you simply hook up to your TV or stereo and allow you to stream media straight from your phone, tablet, or laptop.

Google Home takes things to the next level by allowing you cast video and audio from its supported services using only your voice. As if Chromecast wasn't convenient enough already. I can think of many scenarios where I might want to pull up something from YouTube or change a playlist while I'm busy in the kitchen or otherwise preoccupied. Currently only YouTube is supported for video, but expect more services to be added — Netflix, Hulu and the like — as time goes on. We've linked to the 2015 model below, which remains a fantastic value at only $35... but it only displays at 1080p. If you're interested in some higher definition, Google is set to start shipping a new Chromecast for 2016 — the Chromecast Ultra — which costs twice as much but supports 4K video.

See at Google

Chromecast-enabled TVs and Speakers

If you're looking to upgrade your home theatre setup and would like streamline things with less dongles, there's a growling selection of Smart TVs with Chromecast built right, with 4K sets available from the following brands:


For streaming audio, the biggest gap currently is a lack of support for Sonos. There doesn't appear to be any timetable for adding Sonos into the Google Home ecosystem which is frustrating for anyone who's invested in — or looking to start building out — a Sonos system throughout their home.

But you still have options. Nine brands currently offer Chromecast-enabled speakers, soundbars and subwoofers:

Nest

Nest is one of the best known manufacturers of smart home automation products, which include self-learning, Wi-Fi-enabled thermostats, smoke detectors and security cameras.

With Google Home and a Nest thermostat, you'll be able to effortlessly control the temperature of your home using only your voice. Nest also works well with other smart products, such as lights, doorbells, and smart locks.

See at Amazon


SmartThings

Samsung's SmartThings is a very capable and customizable home automation system that features five different smart sensors for home monitoring, all linked together wirelessly via the Hub. The SmartThings Home Monitoring Kit comes with a Hub, two Multipurpose Sensors, a Motion Sensor and an Outlet. You can configure them however you like in your home, then get instant notifications if anything is out of the normal. You can also buy additional sensors, including an Arrival Sensor and a Water Leak Sensor.

SmartThings is incredibly versatile as it is, but we're super excited to see what integration with Google Home will look like.

See at Amazon

Phillips Hue

Phillips is one of the leading manufacturers of wireless LED smart bulbs. The Phillips Hue lineup features a multitude of different lighting options for around your home, which must be configured through the Phillips Hue Bridge via. You're able to connect up to 50 lights to one Bridge and then configure and control them in so many different ways.

We should expect Google Home to work just as well with Phillips Hue lights as it does with Apple Home Kit, meaning you'll be able to set and adjust your Phillips Hue lights throughout your house without leaving the couch, or easily turn off all the lights when you're leaving the house or it's time for bed.

See at Amazon

LIFX Smart Lights

LIFX offers their third generation of smart bulbs for both indoors and outdoors. Both offer 1100 lumens of brightness, with options to customize the look with 16 million colors and 1000 shades of warm to cool whites.

A single bulb starts at $59.99, but if you're planning to do up your home with LIFX bulbs, you're definitely better off buying in bulk. You save $66 by getting the Master Pack, which comes with six bulbs.

See at LIFX

TP-Link Smart Home

TP-Link offers a line of smart plugs and switches that allow you to convert the lamps and appliances you already own into smart devices you can automate to power on or control with your voice.

Their newest smart plug, the Smart Wi-Fi Plug Mini, is their most compact option yet, leaving the second outlet free.

See at Amazon

Wink hub automation

Wink's latest smart home hub, the Wink Hub 2, works with products from Z-Wave and Zigbee, offering a wide range of home automation options.

If you've built your home automation around a Wink Hub, you can control all your Wink-compatible lighting products (lightbulbs, switches, dimmers, and outlets) and thermostats using Google Assistant on Google home. It's all integrated right into the Google Home app, letting you group lights in specific rooms and control everything using only your voice and Google Assistant.

See at Wink

Vivint Home Security

Vivint offers complete home automation and security packages for those who don't want to piece their home automation together one component at a time. The system features a main control panel that moderates communication between you and all your home automation devices, including lights, security cameras, thermostats, and smart locks. The main console features a touch-screen dashboard and two-way talk to Vivint Smart Home security monitoring teams.

Beginning in April, Vivint will integrate with Google Home allowing you full control over your smart home security and devices around your home using only your voice. If you're interested, you'll need to call Vivint to inquire about pricing and set up an installation appointment.

Learn More

Rachio Sprinklers

If your home has an automated sprinkler system, Rachio wants to save you money on your water bill by optimizing your sprinkler system to only turn on when it needs to. They offer a Wi-Fi-connected controller for your sprinkler system which checks the local forecast and will adjust schedules based on past, present, and future weather, and will also make intelligent seasonal adjustments as needed.

With the new Google Assistant integration, you will be able to control your sprinkler system using only your voice to turn the water on or off, and also update your schedule as needed.

Learn More

Logitech Harmony

Logitech continues to dominate the smart remote sector, with its Harmony Elite remote and hub package allowing you to connect and control more devices than ever from the couch.

With the latest integration with Google Assistant, you can do even more without even picking up the remote at all!

Learn More

Geeni Connected Tech

Geeni Offers intuitive solutions for your smart home automation goals. Their products range from security cameras, lighting, as well as smart plugs and power strips. Everything is controlled in the Geeni app, but now with integration with Google Assistant, you also have the option to control things with your voice, too.

See at MyGeeni

August Smart Locks

August offers elegant smart locks to help keep your home secure. You're able to remotely control your front door from anywhere using the August Connect app.

With the new integration with Google Assistant, you'll be able to ask Google to confirm whether your front door is unlocked when you're expecting company, and lock the doors when you're headed to bed. Both the first and second generations of August Smart Locks are compatible with Google Assistant, though you'll also need a August Connect Wi-Fi Bridge to get everything connected.

See at Amazon

Supported services

Spotify

Over 100 million people use Spotify for all their music streaming needs. Of those, 40 million are paid subscribers. The point here is that Spotify is massively popular and if you aren't already using it, you probably know a bunch of people who do.

With Google Home, simply say "OK Google", followed by your favourite artist, album, song, or playlist, and your music will almost instantly start playing through the Google Home speaker. This is absolutely perfect for playing music in the kitchen when your hands are too messy to be handling a phone, or for setting the right mood for a party or intimate evening. We're also eager to see how smooth it is to use Google Home to cast your Spotify music to your Chromecast Audio-enabled speakers for an even better audio experience.

Pandora

Pandora is a fantastic music recommendation platform which is used by over 200 million people in the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand. It's a customizable internet radio streaming service that allows you to curate your own streams using algorithms that recommends new music it knows you'll love based on your musical tastes and how you've rated other music.

With Google Home, you'll be able to throw on your favorite Pandora station using just your voice. In its current iteration, Google Assistant is unable to identify songs like Shazam or other apps of that sort, but we'd hope to see your Google Assistant give you the information about a song you've just discovered on Pandora, just by asking "what song is playing?" as well as an option to rate songs and skip if necessary.

Google Play Music

Kind of a no brainer, but Google Home will obviously play well with Google Play Music. And that's great news, since Google has slowly build its core music app to encompass a full-fledged streaming service featuring 35 million songs available on-demand (with a subscription) along with mood- and activity-based stations (you may have known it as Songza), along with being a great option for podcasts. A natural fit with Google Home, you'll definitely want to get a Google Play Music subscription if you don't already have one.

TuneIn

Believe it or not, but some people actually prefer to listen to the radio. TuneIn is absolutely the go-to app for accessing online radio, music, and talk stations. Even with the free version, you get access to over 100,000 radio stations from around the world, along with over five million podcasts as well. If you decide to upgrade to the premium subscription, you'll also get access to live NFL and MLB play-by-play, along with a large library of audiobooks.

It will be really interesting to see how third-party streaming services such as TuneIn are integrated into the Google Home experience via the Google Assistant, whether you'll be able to make a broad request ("Play a top-40 radio station from the UK in TuneIn") or stick to more specific requests based on your app usage ("Play my favorite local radio station in TuneIn").

YouTube

YouTube is another obvious starting point for Google to incorporating video search and playback controls with Google Home. Some might be disappointed with a lack of support at launch for Netflix, Hulu and other video services, but with so much content available on YouTube and natural alignment within Google's existing ecosystem (hello, Chromecast), it's a great place for Google to fine tune their voice searching capabilities before opening things up for other video services.

Google Assistant on the Pixel currently only works well with YouTube for video — you can ask to open up Netflix or other apps, but have to navigate the rest of the way from there. But we're likely not too far off from being able to come home, say "OK Google, cast The Office on Netflix to the living room" and binge watch the night away, for better or for worse.

YouTube is also the world's largest music streaming service, becoming such a primary destination for lovers of music that they came out with the YouTube Music app. A subscription to YouTube Red is required.

The YouTube Music app isn't available for everyone just yet, but it too is listed as being compatible with Google Home. The Pixel's Google Assistant frequently completes music requests using YouTube, so we'd imagine it to be just as smooth an experience with Google Home.

IFTTT

IFTTT is a free web service that lets you create chains of conditional commands, called "recipes," to automate processes between apps and smart home devices. IFTTT is an abbreviation of "If This Then That", and that's exactly how the recipes function. For example, say you're concerned about your teenager getting into the liquor cabinet when you're away. If you have a SmartThings Multipurpose Sensor on the liquor cabinet door, you can create an IFTTT recipe that goes "if the liquor cabinet door is opened, call my phone," so you'll know instantly if something's up.

IFTTT is compatible with a ridiculous number of IoT devices, applications, and online services — including Google's OnHub router — and is something you should definitely check out with or without Google Home.

Check out IFTTT recipes created for Google Assistant

What do you think?

Are there any services or products you're hoping to connect and control via Google Home? Let us know in the comments!

Google Hardware

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