With smart home devices getting cheaper by the day, Google has opened up its Assistant platform to smart home device makers. This allows for easy integration with their products.
Thanks to Google Assistant integration, you can control smart home devices such as smart bulbs, TVs, thermostats, and more using your phone, smart displays, and other Assistant-powered devices.
Follow the steps below to learn know how you can easily connect and control your smart home devices using Google Assistant.
Why Link Your Smart Home Devices to Google Assistant?
Most smart home devices already come with their own dedicated app for controlling their various aspects. However, once you have linked your smart home devices with Google Assistant, you’ll then be able to control all of them with your voice.
Google Assistant is available on all Android devices and it can even be accessed on the iPhone using the Google app.
Apart from voice access, you can also use the Google Home app to control smart home devices linked to Google Assistant. You can set up routines to control a number of smart devices at once or schedule them to turn on and off at select times.
You’ll also be able to control multiple smart home devices from different companies at once using a single action or voice command.
There’s also an option to set up virtual rooms in your house and provide your spouse and other family members access to them so that they can also control the smart bulbs, lights, etc. in your house.
How to Link Smart Home Devices With Google Assistant
Before you link any smart home product with Google Assistant, you must first set up the product using its own app and even create an account with it. This is important as you’ll be linking the same account with Google Assistant for the integration to work.
Download the Google Home app for Android or iOS before tackling the steps below.
- Open the Google Home app on your Android or iPhone.
- Tap the + symbol in the top-left corner followed by the Set up device option.
- If you are linking a new smart home product that’s not from Google or a smart display/speaker, select the Works with Google option.
- From the list of home control providers that show up, select the company name whose product you want to link with Google Assistant. Then proceed to login to that service and grant it authorization to access your Google account.
- You will now have to assign all the smart home devices linked to that service to a room.
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for (var i = 0; i Go back to the main page of the Google Home app and you will see the smart device you just linked under the room it was assigned to. All devices that have not been assigned to any room will show up under the Linked to you section.
How to Share Smart Home Device Controls With Your Friends and Family Using Google Assistant
You can also invite your friends and family to control all of the smart home devices linked to your Google account as well. To do so:
- Open the Google Home app, tap the + symbol in the top-left corner.
- Select the Invite home member option followed by the Invite person option.
- Proceed to enter the Gmail address of your friend or family that you want to invite.
- You will be given an overview of all the controls and features that you will be sharing with your friend or family member.
- Tap the Invite button to send the invite.
After your friend or family member accepts the invite, they will be able to use the Google Home app or Google Assistant to control the smart home devices in your home. As of now, there’s no way to provide access to only specific smart home devices using Google Assistant. You’ll have to share access to either all smart devices or none.
How to Control Smart Home Devices Using Google Assistant
Once you have linked your smart home devices to Google Assistant, you can then control them using your voice or the Google Home app.
Assuming you have linked a smart bulb with Google Assistant, you can simply say “Hey Google, turn on the [bulb name]” to switch it on. You can use a similar voice command to turn it off. If your smart bulb supports changing its color or brightness, you can say “Hey Google, change the [bulb name] color to blue and decrease its brightness to 50%”.
If you have multiple smart bulbs assigned to one room, you can simply say “Hey Google, turn off all the lights in [room name]” to turn them off all at once. Depending on the capabilities of the smart home product you are using, you can use a relevant voice command to control it.
For example, for a thermostat, you can ask Google Assistant to increase or decrease the temperature. If you are new to using Google Assistant, you’ll find this Google Home voice commands cheat sheet useful.
Alternatively, you can use the Google Home app to control the device. You also have the option of changing the name of the device, assigning it to a different room, and more.
If you have a smart display running Google Assistant, you can ask it to show the feed from the smart camera on your porch, thereby turning it into a makeshift video doorbell. The ability to stream video feeds using Google Assistant is only limited to smart displays for now.
After linking all of your smart home devices, you can set up a Google Assistant routine that will trigger multiple actions at once: enable Wi-Fi, put your phone from silent mode, turn off all the lights in your room, adjust the thermostat, tell you about the weather, and much more.
Controlling Smart Home Devices Using Google Assistant
Using Google Assistant and Google Home to control all of your smart home devices is far more convenient than using an app for each one of them. Google Assistant can act as a central hub for all of your smart home devices from where you can control them at once, share them with your friends or family, assign them to different rooms or home, see their status, and more.
Another benefit of linking your smart home devices to Google Assistant is that you’ll be able to use any other phone, smart speaker, or smart displays in your home running Assistant to control them without having to worry about installing other apps first.