What’s New in Google Home: October 29, 2026 Release

On Thursday, October 29, 2026, local time, Google released “What’s new in Google Home,” the latest update summarizing new features and improvements rolled out for the smart home service “Google Home” and its related services.

This edition of “What’s new in Google Home” announces numerous bug fixes and feature enhancements, including improvements to the cross-room music transfer feature in “Gemini for Home (Early Access),” better display of “Matter”-compatible devices in the smart home controls of the Google Home app, and various software updates for Google Home-related devices such as “Chromecast with Google TV,” “Nest Wifi,” and “Nest Audio.”

Release notes for 2026

October 29, 2026

Gemini for Home (Early Access)

Voice Assistant

General Fixes & Improvements

• Transferring music between rooms: Improved how Gemini understands requests to move media that’s playing in one room to a speaker or display in a different location. Try saying, “move Mozart to the living room” or, “bring the music here.”
• Fewer unexpected “Sorry, I didn’t understand” responses: Fixed an issue where speakers and displays could occasionally say “Sorry, I didn’t understand” unprompted when no one had spoken to the device.
• Better distinction between media sleep timers and regular timers: Fixed a rare issue where Gemini would get confused between media sleep timers, normal timers, and alarms under specific conditions.
• More reliable YouTube TV commands on smart displays: Fixed an issue with playing YouTube TV on smart displays so voice commands reliably start the content you’re looking for.
• More predictable volume controls across rooms: Fixed an issue where asking to adjust the volume on a speaker or display in another room could accidentally change the volume on the device you were speaking to if the other device couldn’t be found.
• Fixed zero-volume timers and alarms: Resolved a specific bug where alarm and timer volumes were being set to zero. In this situation, alarm and timer volume will be adjusted to match your device volume.

Google Home App

Home Premium

• Get to know your Home Premium features & benefits: If you are a Google Home Premium subscriber, you can now easily access all your features & benefits, with Tap on your profile on the top right of your screen. From there, tap on “Google Home Premium” to view, understand, and enable your features.

Device Controls

• Accurate icons and controls for Matter doors and windows (Android): The app now recognizes specific Matter closure types—including garage doors, gates, windows, blinds, and cabinets—displaying the correct device icon and controls instead of treating every closure as a generic gate.

Energy

• View energy data on supported Matter devices (Android): Compatible Matter smart plugs and energy monitors that measure cumulative energy usage now display both real-time power (mW) and total energy consumed (kWh) directly on their device tiles and controller screens.
• Save energy with one-tap shortcuts: Quick-set your home to energy-saving temperatures directly from your thermostat controller or home view with a dedicated shortcut, making it effortless to conserve energy whenever you step away.

Camera

• More reliable event timeline scrolling (iOS): Fixed an issue where scrolling to the end of an event on the progress bar or across brief gaps between events could trigger a “Video Not Available” error.
• Smooth camera live view when unfolding foldable phones (Android): Fixed an issue on foldable phones where unfolding or folding the device while watching a full-screen camera live stream could leave the video stuck on a loading spinner.
• More reliable face and person detection on Nest Doorbell (wired, 1st gen): Improved person and Familiar Face detection when visitors are further from the door or angled away from the camera.
• Software updates for Nest Cam Indoor (1st gen), Nest Cam Outdoor (1st gen), Nest Doorbell (wired, 1st gen / Nest Hello), Nest Cam IQ Indoor, and Nest Cam IQ Outdoor migrated to the Google Home app:
  • Improved Wi-Fi reconnection stability: Fixed issues that could cause cameras to crash or stall when reconnecting after brief Wi-Fi interruptions.
  • Faster night vision switching when turning on the camera: Fixed an issue on Nest Cam Indoor (1st gen) and Nest Cam Outdoor (1st gen) where turning the camera on in low light or switching to night vision in the Google Home app could take 15 to 20 seconds.
  • Synchronized audio and video on Nest Doorbell (wired, 1st gen): Fixed an issue that could cause audio and video to fall out of sync and trigger unexpected device restarts.
  • Accurate status light behavior on Nest Cam IQ: Fixed an issue on Nest Cam IQ Indoor and Nest Cam IQ Outdoor where the status light ring could pulse blue (indicating it was waiting for setup) when Wi-Fi was disconnected on an already set up camera.

General Fixes & Improvements

• Accurate online status (iOS): Devices no longer briefly show as “Offline” after a short connection hiccup.
• Spaces show the right content (Android): Opening a space like Lights no longer flashes another tab’s content.
• Settings survive rotation (Android): Unsaved preference changes are no longer lost when you rotate your phone.
• No more blank screen in Assistant settings (Android): Going back from Google Tasks settings now works as expected.
• Easier exit from Thread settings (iOS): The navigation bar now stays visible when viewing Thread network details.
• Tidier home names (iOS): Long home names now truncate instead of overlapping header buttons.
• Controls auto-dismiss on Pixel Tablet (Android): Single-device voice controls no longer linger on screen.
• Parental controls fit on tablets (Android): Headers and filters are no longer cut off in landscape.
• Visual polish (Android): Rounded touch ripples, a dark-mode-friendly feedback sheet, correct battery icon placement, and bottom sheets that open fully.

Device Firmware

Google TV Streamers

Software updates for Chromecast with Google TV (4K) and Chromecast with Google TV (HD):

• Android Security Patch Level upgrade to August 2026
• Connectivity, media streaming, and display performance improvements
• General bug fixes and system stability enhancements

Nest Wifi

• Nest Wifi (2019) router and Nest Wifi point
  • Enhanced mesh network resilience and DNS fallback improvements
  • Other stability and security vulnerability fixes
• Nest Wifi Pro
  • Networking: Enabled automatic failover to ISP DNS when public DNS is blocked. Enhanced node setup reliability.
  • Platform & Wireless: Optimized mesh RSSI and client-steering performance, and enhanced wpa_supplicant and DHCP client stability.
  • Ecosystem & Security: Rolled up Google Home Platform updates and applied comprehensive security enhancements.

Nest and Google Home Speakers

• Audio playback: Enhanced streaming performance on Nest Audio, Google Home, and Google Home Mini for smoother audio playback. 
• Speaker Pair Volume Tuning: Improved audio quality by reducing boomy bass and ensuring minimum volume levels remain clearly audible.
• Local Network Discovery: Improved faster and more reliable local device discovery within the Google Home app for Google Home Speaker, Google Nest Audio, and Google Nest Mini.
• Bluetooth Audio Streaming on Resume: Fixed a bug where Bluetooth audio streaming from a connected laptop or device would automatically pause after receiving a voice “resume” command.
• Wi-Fi 7 Router Compatibility: Resolved setup and connection failures preventing smart speakers from connecting to Wi-Fi 7 access points using WPA3 security.
• Speaker Group & Stereo Pair Visibility: Fixed an issue where stereo pairs and speaker groups could unexpectedly disappear or become undiscoverable in the Google Home app.
• Google Meet Voice Call Controls: Fixed an issue where users were unable to end Google Meet calls using voice commands

What’s new in Google Home – Google Nest Help

“Gemini for Home (Early Access)”

Voice Assistant

For Google AI “Gemini” on Google Home smart speakers and smart displays, interpretation of requests to move music to a device in another room has been improved.

You can now smoothly switch playback destinations simply by giving commands such as “Move Mozart to the living room.” Additionally, fixes have been made for issues such as devices responding with “Sorry, I didn’t understand” even when no one was speaking to them, Gemini confusing media sleep timers with regular timers, and attempting to adjust the volume of a device in another room accidentally changing the volume of the device right in front of you.

Voice control reliability for “YouTube TV” on smart displays has also been enhanced, and a bug where alarm and timer volumes were unexpectedly dropping to zero has been resolved.

Google Home App

“Google Home Premium” and Device Controls

For subscribers of the “Google Home Premium” subscription service, a setting has been added to easily access perks and features from the profile icon.

In device controls, the Android version of the Google Home app now displays icons and controls for Matter-compatible garage doors, gates, windows, and blinds with greater accuracy. Furthermore, Matter-compatible smart plugs and energy monitors now display real-time power (mW) and cumulative energy consumption (kWh) directly on their device tiles.

In addition, a dedicated shortcut has been added to the thermostat controller, allowing users to switch to energy-saving temperatures with a single tap.

Camera Features

On the iOS version of the Google Home app, the “Video Not Available” error that occurred when scrolling through the event timeline has been fixed. On the Android version, an issue where the live view would freeze when unfolding or folding foldable devices has been resolved. Moreover, the accuracy of face and person recognition on devices like the “Nest Doorbell” has been improved.

Software updates have also been rolled out for migrated devices such as the 1st-generation “Nest Cam” and “Nest Doorbell,” bringing improvements such as enhanced Wi-Fi reconnection stability and faster switching to night vision when turning on the camera in low-light environments.

General App Bug Fixes

On the iOS version of the Google Home app, fixes were implemented to prevent devices from briefly showing as “Offline” after minor connection hiccups, and long home names now correctly truncate without overlapping.

On the Android version of the Google Home app, fixes include resolving an issue where unsaved preferences were lost when rotating the screen. Other improvements include fixing the blank screen error when returning from Google Tasks settings and enhancing various control UIs in tablet view.

Google Home Devices

“Chromecast with Google TV (4K / HD)”

Software updates have been released for “Chromecast with Google TV (4K)” and “Chromecast with Google TV (HD),” featuring an upgrade to the August 2026 Android security patch level, alongside connectivity, media streaming, and display performance improvements.

Nest Wifi

For “Nest Wifi” and “Nest Wifi Pro,” software updates have been rolled out including enhancements to mesh network resilience and DNS fallback, improved Wi-Fi client-steering performance, and various security patches.

On “Nest Wifi Pro,” an automatic failover feature to ISP DNS when public DNS is blocked has also been enabled.

Nest / Google Home Speakers

For “Nest Audio,” “Google Home,” and “Google Nest Mini,” streaming performance for audio playback has been enhanced.

Additionally, boomy bass on speaker pairs has been tuned to improve audio quality while ensuring minimum volume levels remain clearly audible. Other updates include faster local network device discovery within the Google Home app, a bug fix for Google Meet voice call termination commands, and resolving connection issues when pairing smart speakers to Wi-Fi 7 routers using WPA3 security.

Google Home App Links

Source：Google