Hey Google Nest Community,
We're excited to roll out a variety of new home automation capabilities both in the Home app for all users, that we'll discuss in this post, and new capabilities in the script editor that is currently in Public Preview tailored to our more advanced users.
Today, you can step into action and start your day or night off right with these new starters and actions available in the Automation tab on the Google Home app.
Nine new starters and nine new actions are available for Household Routines. You can also set up sensors (including temperature, humidity, contact and occupancy) in the Google Home ecosystem and use them in automations.
| New Starters | New Actions |
| Device is open or closed | Open / close (single direction) |
| Device is plugged in or charging | Pause / unpause |
| Temperature sensor changes | Timer start / pause / resume / cancel |
| Volume is muted or unmuted | Volume mute / unmute |
| Device is docked / undocked | Dock device (such as a robot vacuum) |
| Active light effect | Light effects (pulse / sleep / wake / color loop) |
| Lock is jammed | Reboot device |
| Humidity sensor changes | Set humidity percentage |
| Occupancy Sensing | Run software update |
For the full list of compatible devices with these new starters and actions, please check out our device compatibility list. Keep reading for some examples to try:
Nine starters, with example automations:
- Open/Close: When the window is opened, turn off the thermostat.
- Device is charging / plugged in: When your EV is charging, it could automatically start playing music or downloading updates.
- Temperature: When the temperature inside rises above 80 degrees, open the window and turn on the fan.
- Volume is muted: When you mute your music, it could automatically turn off the speakers or start a timer.
- Device is docked / undocked: Commonly found on mops, mowers and vacuums. For example: When the vacuum docks, broadcast to the home vacuuming is finished.
- Device is paused: When you pause your TV show, it could automatically dim the lights or turn on the fireplace.
- Lock is jammed: If your door lock is jammed, broadcast to the home the lock is jammed and pulse a light.
- Humidity Percentage: When humidity drops below 40%, turn on the humidifier.
- Occupancy Sensing: When someone is detected in a certain zone or room, turn on the light.
Nine actions, with example automations:
- Light effects: From pulse lights, to wake/sleep and even color loop. Here are some examples to try:
- Pulse: Provide visual feedback. When the doorbell is pressed, pulse my bedroom light.
- Wake/Sleep: When I dismiss my alarm, slowly wake the lights over a one hour time period.
- Color Loop: When I say “Party Time”, Color Loop lights for 30 mins.
- Open or Close device: Windows, doors, or blinds are a breeze to open or close with these actions: At 7 AM, open the blinds. At 10 PM close the blinds.
- Dock device: Now you can set an action to dock a device like, vacuums, mops or mowers: At 5 PM, dock the vacuum cleaner.
- Set Humidity: You can set the humidity in your home depending on the temperature. These actions could help improve air quality: If the humidity in my house is too low, turn on the humidifier.
- Pause/Unpause device: Simply pause or unpause devices such as your TV, music player, and video game. You can even control appliances like the vacuums, sprinklers, dishwasher, washer and dryer: When the doorbell rings, pause my robot vacuum.
- Timer: Start, pause, resume, or cancel timers for tasks such as cooking, cleaning, and running errands. Check out these examples:
- Set a timer for 30 minutes to cook dinner.
- Pause the timer when I need to check on the food.
- Resume the timer when I'm done checking on the food.
- Cancel the timer if I need to leave the house.
- Volume Mute: Mute or unmute devices such as your phone, TV, and music player when you need a moment of silence: Mute the TV at 9 PM when the kids are going to bed.
- Reboot device: Quickly reboot devices like your routers, game consoles, laptop, and TV. This action could help fix problems or improve performance: Schedule a Reboot device on my router every first of the month.
- Run software update: Run software update (like on your WiFi Router): Help your devices improve security and performance with this action to run software updates: Set a schedule for software updates.
Which new starters and actions are you going to try first? Explore the new automations in the Google Home app now. Join the discussion in the Home Automation forum to talk about the update and share your home automation creations.
Need a little help with creating automations? Visit our Help Center article: Creating and managing Routines for Google Home automations.
Please note, device capability support is limited by the device manufacturer. If you don’t see the expected capability for your device, it could be because the device manufacturer has not implemented it. You can check here to see what traits your manufacturer has implemented.
Check back here in the Community for more updates and information about future automation releases.
Thanks,
Ray Strods, Product Manager, Google Home
