Source: Droid Life

New Google Home Updates Crank Up the Speeds

By Droid Life6 min readMay 11, 2026

https://www.droid-life.com/2026/05/11/new-google-home-updates-crank-up-the-speeds/

Brief points

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The weekly Google Home update just dropped and it is once again all about big speed improvements. Google posted this week’s changelog and it touches on everything from Gemini for Home to the Google Home app and faster timers and alarms to improvements to Nest thermostats.

This changelog is quite long and very wordy. Google is doing its best to try and explain a number of behind-the-scenes improvements that should make the general experience with Gemini for Home a lot faster and smarter.

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The first change is a new way to give feedback on Gemini for Home on smart displays. Now, when you finish a query, you’ll see thumbs up and thumbs down options that can be tapped to help Google figure out what they can improve next.

Google has also pushed out deeper personalization and faster response times for your Ask Home queries. These are the intelligent bits of info that Gemini can pull if you have a Google Home Premium subscription. Things like asking when your wife got home or for your Home Brief should return faster and with a more seamless experience.

For timers and alarms, Google is confirming that setting these should be faster than ever. They previously brought several updates to alarms and timers, but today Google is simply saying that setting these should be “noticeably quicker.”

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The other big change for today is in the Google Home app, where Google has improved one-tap temperature overrides and will show up-to-date scheddule banners more often.

There are a lot of deeper details with today’s update, so dive below to read Google’s word-for-word changelog.

Gemini for Home: voice assistant (early access)

Quick & Simple Feedback on Smart Displays

Your feedback is critical to helping us make Gemini for Home even better for you. We’re introducing a new faster way to give feedback on Gemini for Home on smart displays. Following most voice interactions, thumbs-up and thumbs-down buttons will appear. Simply tap thumbs up if you’re satisfied or thumbs down if you’re dissatisfied. This will help us zero in on what we need to improve next. Thank you and keep the feedback coming.

Smarter, Faster Smart Home

We’ve improved how Gemini interacts with your smart home devices, focusing on both deeper personalization and faster response times. Gemini can now leverage information you saved in Ask Home, when asking questions about camera history, as you speak to it on your smart speakers and displays. It uses explicit information that you chose to save about family members or frequent visitors, such as “our nanny’s name is Alice” to intelligently resolve camera search queries for a more seamless experience. For example, Gemini may search for a familiar face tagged as Alice if you ask if your nanny arrived.
You can also get a quick recap of what happened at home while you were away by asking for your “Home Brief” on your speaker or display. At the same time, we’ve optimized backend processing for device commands, making actions like turning on lights noticeably faster and more responsive.

Try saying:

“When did the nanny come home?”
“Where is my wife’s car?”
“Give me my Home Brief for the day”
“Turn on the living room lights”

Faster Alarms & Timers

Setting your daily alarms and timers should now be noticeably quicker. We’ve streamlined how queries and commands are processed so Gemini responds much faster, reducing wait times and the need to repeat yourself while improving overall reliability.

Try saying:

“Set a 10 minute timer”
“Set an alarm for 7 AM”

Expanded Access for Answers

We’ve updated our safeguards to provide more helpful content for adult users. While we maintain strict protections to prevent age-inappropriate content for younger users, adults will now experience improved availability for general queries, including recipes for age-gated beverages.

Try saying:

“Give me the recipe to make a margarita”

If Gemini for Home is not responding to your requests appropriately, please be sure to check both your Parental Controls & Digital Wellbeing settings and your Gemini for Home response filter settings in the Google Home app.

Improved Onboarding Discovery

Gemini is now better at helping you find new ways to use it. When you ask Gemini for help getting started, it now reliably responds with clear suggestions tailored to your needs, helping you discover new ways to interact.

Try saying:

“What can you do?”

Google Home App

These features and improvements are available in Google Home App version 4.16, and are beginning to roll out today.

App Features & Improvements

Energy

Nest Thermostats

One-tap temperature overrides: You can now instantly pause the use of outdoor temperatures to heat or cool your home directly from your thermostat controller. This gives you immediate flexibility to adjust your home’s temperature on the fly without changing your long-term automatic settings.
Up-to-date schedule advice: Thermostat schedule banners now always include the most relevant information, guaranteeing that the recommendations and schedules displayed are always timely and tailored to your current environment.

Works with Google Home Thermostats

More controls for non-Nest thermostat on iOS: On iOS, you can now seamlessly manage compatible third-party thermostats and air conditioners directly from the Google Home app, just like on Android.

Device Setup

New Device Setup Experience: Setting up new smart home devices is now simpler with the new QR code discovery flow. We have replaced the previous multi-option setup menu with a convenient QR code scanner that guides you to the correct setup path for your device. This streamlined experience removes the guesswork (Is this a ‘Matter-enabled device’ or a ‘Works with Google Home’ device or a ‘Google Nest’ device) from adding new products, helping you get them connected with greater ease and confidence.

// Google

Read the original post: New Google Home Updates Crank Up the Speeds

Take this read into the canonical ecosystem surfaces

Take this read into the canonical ecosystem surfaces

New Google Home Updates Crank Up the Speeds

Gemini for Home: voice assistant (early access)

Quick & Simple Feedback on Smart Displays

Smarter, Faster Smart Home

Faster Alarms & Timers

Expanded Access for Answers

Improved Onboarding Discovery

Google Home App

App Features & Improvements