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You'll soon be able to control your smart home with the Google Pixel

By Julian Chokkattu Updated January 25, 2017

When Google Home launched late last fall, it only supported three Internet of Things systems: Nest, Philips Hue, and Samsung SmartThings. If you’ve been hoping for more options, you’re in luck — the search giant is expanding the Assistant’s capabilities with support for Belkin’s WeMo platform as well as Honeywell’s devices.

Google Home is the company’s Amazon Echo competitor, and it’s powered by the Google Assistant. You can ask the Assistant search queries, control smart-home products that are supported, cast Netflix to your TV if you have a Chromecast — you get the idea. The Assistant is available on the Google Pixel smartphone, and will gradually make its way to Android Wear smartwatches, Chromebooks, Android TV devices, and more. Google opened up Assistant to third-party developers in December.

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While Google says more smart-home partners are “coming soon,” you can now use devices on Belkin’s WeMo platform such as smart switches, LED bulbs, as well as security cameras. Honeywell’s portfolio of products is now supported as well, including its smart thermostats. If you have products from these two platforms, all you need to do to set them up is open the Google Home app, swipe the left edge for the sidebar, and tap on “Home Control.” Press the plus sign on the bottom right to add your supported device.

But more importantly, Google says you’ll soon be able to control your smart home products with the Assistant on the Google Pixel. The company’s goal is to make Assistant able enough to perform the same functions across all devices to offer a consistent experience. Some features will be specific to the product, though, such as how you can play an emoji texting game with the Assistant in Allo, Google’s messaging app.

Assistant can do many things on the Home that it can’t on the Pixel, but there are some things it can do on the Pixel and not yet on the Home, like creating a reminder. This integration of Home Control for the Pixel is a small step, but it’s encouraging to see Google is committed to unifying the experience.

Julian Chokkattu

Mobile and Wearables Editor

Julian is the mobile and wearables editor at Digital Trends, covering smartphones, fitness trackers, smartwatches, and more…

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Smart Home

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One of the major pain points of the modern smart home is its digital nature. Whether it’s controlling your smart lights, robot vacuum, smart lock, or thermostat, there’s a good chance you’re using a smartphone for most of your interactions. That makes it less than ideal for other members of the household -- or even guests -- to make changes to your setup. This is where Flic comes into play, as the company offers a lineup of physical buttons and dials so everyone can use your favorite smart devices without the need for a digital interface.

I’ve been testing out both the Flic Smart Buttons and Flic Twist, and while they lack certain functionalities, they’re bound to be a fun addition to most smart homes. That’s especially true if you use Alexa or HomeKit, as both platforms work with the innovative smart buttons.
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Basically, the newly redesigned Google News makes things simpler in terms of the bottom bar. Previously, there were four sections in that bottom navigation bar: For you, Headlines, Following, and Newsstand. The revamped version now combines For you and Headlines into a new Home tab, which acts as the default feed for content. The other two tabs -- Following and Newsstand -- still remain.

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What’s new in Project Astra? Google says language has been given a big performance bump, as Astra can now better understand accents and less commonly used words, plus it can speak in multiple languages, and in combinations of languages too. It means Astra is more conversational, and speaks more like we do every day. Astra “sees” the world around it and now uses Google Lens, Google Maps, and Google Search to inform it.