Google Home’s ‘Ask Home’ Redesign Launches on iPhone

A significant redesign of the Google Home app is now reaching iPhone users, introducing the new “Ask Home” feature ahead of its official October announcement. This update, version 4.0.54, brings a fresh visual identity with a more rounded app icon featuring a gradient color scheme, aligning it with other Google services like Gemini.

Upon opening the updated application, users are greeted by a prominent “Ask [Home name]” bar positioned at the top of the app’s three main pages. A glowing animation draws attention to this new bar upon first launch. Tapping the circle on its left side allows you to quickly set your home’s status to Home or Away. Directly next to this is a vertical pill-shaped button with a plus sign, providing a centralized menu to add new devices, create speaker groups, set up automations, link other services, invite home members, or even add an entirely new home.

The app’s navigation has been streamlined into three primary tabs. The Home tab itself features a series of top tabs, beginning with Favorites and Devices. You can swipe horizontally to navigate between different feeds like Cameras, Lights, and Wi-Fi. Your current selection is highlighted with a rounded rectangle, while the other options remain as circles. The layout and appearance of the individual device control tiles remain unchanged from the previous version.

The other two main tabs, Activity and Automations, retain their original layouts for the most part, with the only noticeable change being the new icons in the bottom navigation bar. The controls for media playback also remain identical.

When you first tap the “Ask Home” bar, you must acknowledge the Gemini for Home disclosures. This opens a chat-style interface with a carousel of device tiles at the top. You can tap these tiles to turn devices on or off, or open their full control page. Initially, this chatbot functions primarily as a device search tool. As you type, relevant device tiles, suggested actions, and automations will appear.

More complex conversational prompts are not yet active. A message within the app states, “Ask Home isn’t ready for your home yet, but you’ll get a notification once it is,” suggesting the full capabilities will be enabled after Google’s official announcements.

Google’s disclaimer page for Ask Home highlights several important points for users. The Gemini for Home voice assistant will be accessible to everyone in the household, including guests, and its responses may be audible in shared spaces. Household members who have set up Voice Match will be able to search and view video history from compatible cameras and doorbells on smart displays, depending on their subscription. An option to switch to audio-only camera history results is available in the voice assistant settings.

A notable feature involves the microphone behavior. With the Gemini Live feature enabled for certain queries, the microphone will stay active for a short time to allow for follow-up questions without needing to say “Hey Google” again. The microphone will automatically turn off after a brief period of inactivity, or you can manually end the conversation. A visible indicator on your device will show when the microphone is active, and Google advises ensuring others in the home are aware the microphone may remain on during these interactions.

(Source: 9to5 Google)