Gemini for Home is rolling out. Are you ready?

The new Google Home Speaker has received an upgrade powered by Gemini for Home assistant. Instead of acting like a device that only understands precise commands, your speaker can now understand more natural speech.

How to Opt in to Gemini for Home

Google Home users can expect to receive a notification with the message "Introducing Gemini for Home" when the upgrade to Gemini for Home is available for your Google Home app. Tap the notification to be directed to the Google Home app. Tap ‘Get started’ and follow the prompts to set up your Gemini for Home assistant.

If you choose ‘Not now’ and you have a Google Home Premium subscription, you can set it up later by:

Opening the Google Home app and tapping ‘Get started’ when the prompt appears.
Opening the Google Home app, going to your inbox (tap on your profile icon in the top right to access), and selecting the message about setting up Gemini for Home.

Availability

When you add a Google Home Speaker (2026) to your home, you'll be eligible to opt in to Gemini for Home and set up the Gemini for Home voice assistant.

Early access to the Gemini for Home voice assistant has already started rolling out to Google speakers and displays in selected languages and countries, with availability expanding to more Google Home users over time. You'll be notified when it's available to you.

Once you switch to Gemini for Home voice assistant in the Google Home app:

It becomes immediately available to everyone in your home.
Compatible devices in your home, and devices added later, will use Gemini for Home instead of Google Assistant.
Devices that become compatible in the future will automatically switch to Gemini for Home.
Once your home has been switched to Gemini for Home, it cannot be changed back to Google Assistant.

Access to the basic features of Gemini for Home is available at no cost. These include smart home controls, media search and playback, alarms and timers, calendars, notes, lists, reminders, and the ability to ask Gemini questions on a wide range of topics.

Some features, such as Gemini Live, are available only on compatible devices with a Google Home Premium subscription.

Change Gemini for Home Voice Assistant Settings

Your voice assistant offers a variety of settings that you can customise to suit your preferences.

To change settings:

Open the Google Home app.
Tap your profile picture or initial.
Select ‘Home settings’.
Tap ‘Gemini for Home voice assistant’.

Explore Gemini for Home Features

Note: Some features may need to be enabled individually within the app.

Gemini for Home Voice Assistant

Gemini for Home improves how Google speakers and displays handle conversations and everyday tasks. It can assist with smart home control, media discovery and playback, information retrieval, and household organisation.

For Google Home Premium subscribers, Gemini Live is also available on compatible Nest speakers and displays. Say "Hey Google, let's chat" to start a live conversation with Gemini. You can brainstorm ideas, ask questions, discuss current events, seek advice, or simply have a natural conversation.

Gemini for Home Camera Features

Gemini-powered camera features include AI descriptions, AI notifications, and a daily Home Brief summarising recorded camera events. These features require the Advanced plan of Google Home Premium.

Help Me Create Automations

Describe the automation you want by typing it into the Google Home app. Gemini generates an automation that you can personalise and save. This feature requires a Google Home Premium subscription.

Ask Home

Through natural conversation you can:

Control smart home devices.
Check your home's status and history.
Create automations in the Google Home app.
Save preferences so Gemini can personalise interactions for your household.

Examples include:

"Turn off all lights except the kitchen."

"Which lights are on?"

Some ‘Ask Home’ features are available at no cost, while others require a Google Home Premium subscription.

How Google Handles Your Data

According to Google, your personal Google Home data is not used to train generative AI models outside of Google Home.

Information used to provide Gemini for Home includes:

Transcripts of your interactions and Gemini's responses.
Voice recordings (if you have enabled Improve Google services with voice, audio and Gemini Live recordings).
Your feedback.
Information you asked Google Home to remember.
Home information such as room names, device names, and household members.
Device status.
Automations you create.
Settings.
General location information, including IP address, Google Home address, or Home and Work addresses associated with your Google Account.
Subscription information if you have Google Home Premium.

Gemini for Home Without a Subscription

The free version of Gemini for Home does not include premium Google Home features such as:

Gemini Live conversations.
AI Home Brief camera summaries.
Natural-language camera history search.

However, the free tier still provides Gemini's advanced reasoning capabilities for smart home control, media playback, and household organisation.

Example things you can ask Gemini

Smart Home Control and Climate

Multi-device commands: "Hey Google, turn off all the lights except the living room."

Multiple adjustments: "Hey Google, dim the living room lights and set the air conditioner temperature to 22 degrees."

Room isolation: "Hey Google, turn off the kitchen smart plugs but keep the coffee maker on."

Timed actions: "Hey Google, turn off the kids' bedroom lights in 10 minutes."

Appliance status: "Hey Google, is the dehumidifier running right now?"

Climate control: "Hey Google, set the upstairs air conditioner to eco-mode."

Device grouping: "Hey Google, turn on all the outdoor and porch lights."

Blind controls: "Hey Google, open the blinds halfway in the master bedroom."

Brightness check: "Hey Google, are any lights still turned on downstairs?"

Device count: "Hey Google, how many smart plugs are currently turned on?"

Basic Security and Live Feeds (No History Search)

Live camera stream: "Hey Google, show me the front door camera on the kitchen display."

Backyard monitoring: "Hey Google, stream the backyard camera."

Locking routine: "Hey Google, lock the front door and the side garage door."

Security check: "Hey Google, are all the smart locks secured?"

Garage monitoring: "Hey Google, check if the garage door is closed."

Display switching: "Hey Google, move the patio camera stream to the living room TV."

Entertainment, Media and Multi-Room Audio

Audio relocation: "Hey Google, move the music from the kitchen to the bedroom speaker."

Podcast control: "Hey Google, play the latest episode of my favourite cooking podcast."

Content recommendations: "Hey Google, find a family-friendly movie with catchy songs."

YouTube casting: "Hey Google, play a video tutorial on how to fix a leaky tap on the Hub."

Volume management: "Hey Google, lower the volume on all downstairs speakers."

Media playback: "Hey Google, skip this song and unpause the living room TV."

Genre search: "Hey Google, play some upbeat acoustic music for cleaning."

Show discovery: "Hey Google, suggest three award-winning sci-fi TV shows."

House Organisation and Scheduling

Complex reminders: "Hey Google, remind me to take the bin out every second Tuesday at 7 PM."

Shopping lists: "Hey Google, add oat milk, dishwasher tablets, and olive oil to my grocery list."

Calendar management: "Hey Google, what does my family schedule look like this Thursday?"

Multi-timer tracking: "Hey Google, set a 12-minute pasta timer and a 45-minute roast timer."

Broadcasting messages: "Hey Google, broadcast to the house that dinner is ready on the table."

Chore delegation: "Hey Google, add 'clean the fish tank' to the weekend chore list."

Sources

This article is based primarily on Google's official support documentation published for Google Home and Gemini features.