Google Home AMA on Reddit sheds light on what’s coming

What do you want to know

• The Google Home team held an AMA on Reddit, and users widely expressed their dissatisfaction and curiosity regarding the development of the app.
• The team said there was more to come for Google Home on the web, saying “additional checks” were on the way.
• A Google Home member said there is a “vision and roadmap” behind the development of the app and its features, but no details were specified.

The Google Home team held an AMA (ask me anything) on ​​Reddit, answering questions about its availability on the web and devices. While many users took the opportunity to complain, the Google Home team gave a small glimpse into the future of the platform.

Several product and engineering managers were on deck to respond to user questions as things got started. A user posted a lengthy post asking about Google Home’s controls across web, devices, and the removal of support in favor of Gemini. Jacqueline, product manager, responded by stating“We’re working to bring additional device control to Google Home for the web.”

The team didn’t have much to say about what kind of controls users could expect, but the new additions would first appear in a public preview. The Home team declined to comment further on AI in its devices.

The topics turned into questions about when Google would bring an offline mode to the Home app. Daniel, team member said, “We’re first focusing on routing more of your interactions locally (thanks to Matter!) to reap the reliability and latency benefits.” The post adds that once Google deems a “significant” amount of your traffic is operating locally, it will focus on bringing “powerful” offline features through the app.

Cohesion, or lack thereof, was another topic of discussion for one user. Daniel from Google Home took the lead once againstating that the team has a “vision and roadmap” to help it navigate the software and product development process.

Daniel mentioned the Home team’s need to create an entirely new UI experience to accommodate its new camera protocols and acknowledged that this could cause “frustration and pain” for the user .

We’re still wondering what Google Home’s current roadmap for app development is, as they haven’t shared more.

We’re the team behind the latest updates to Nest devices and Google Home for the web. Ask us anything! Since r/homegoogle

Although the Home team declined to disclose its roadmap, mentioning the Matter connectivity standard for smart homes is a good place to start. The Matter 1.2 upgrade launched in October 2023, bringing support for nine device types. Additionally, the Matter standard helps smart devices communicate with each other (locally) instead of going through a company like Google.

Meanwhile, Google Home’s latest update arrived for its web app earlier in March. The update brought camera history and a clip editor to web users, features that were highly requested by the community. The latter allowed users to trim and save clips recorded by their cameras for other uses.

The update also brought the availability of the Public Preview test area for home web users to test new features.