Google Home automation gets a lot more flexible with new starters

New features are all well and good, but most Google Home users would just settle for the basics working smoothly. Against that backdrop, Google’s latest Home app update isn’t anything monumental, but it does tackle a frustration many camera owners will instantly recognize, and brings a bunch of extra automations and starters for the smart home power users.

In a new Google Home changelog today,  the company says it has improved “close-to-live playback” for cameras in the Google Home app. That means the app should now be much better at playing back clips that were recorded moments ago, reducing those all-too-familiar “Video not available” errors when you tap a notification or open a recent event.

The new Google Home automation starters and conditions cover a wider range of real-world scenarios, including humidity reaching a specific level, a robot vacuum docking, or a device’s battery charging or running low. Google has also added more granular button and switch interactions, such as single-press, multi-press, and long-press actions on supported devices. The result should be automations that respond more effectively to what’s actually happening in your home.

Google has also expanded the list of actions automations can perform. One practical addition is the ability to set smart lights to specific colors or color temperatures. It’s evolution rather than revolution, but it opens the door to more expressive routines tied to things like mood or ambient conditions.

While this update won’t magically solve all of Google Home’s reliability woes, the combination of additions and improvements for common frustrations does at least suggest that Google is listening to the fans who might have lost a bit of faith in the ecosystem.