Pixel’s Google Assistant is now able to control smart home devices

The Google Pixel introduced Google’s new Assistant, which Google Now will eventually phase into over the next several months. What was interesting was that Google’s Assistant was the same one found on Google’s newest ‘smart home’ device: the Google Home assistant.

If you would have asked your Pixel to “turn on the kitchen lights” just last month, you’d get a canned response and your lights would have stayed exactly how they were: turned off. Fortunately, Google has recently flipped the switch for controlling smart home peripherals with your smartphone.

In addition to Google Home’s most recent integrations with Belkin, Wemo, and Honeywell, Smartphones with Google Assistant will be able to control Nest, Philips Hue, and Samsung SmartThings devices directly from their smartphone.

A new “Home control” section will appear in the Google Assistants settings where a user can view a list of paired devices and set-up rooms on your network. From here, you can also add devices just as you would on Google Home.

9to5Google reports that the feature is live on Pixel devices running Android 7.1.2 with Google Play Services version 10.2.98 as well as the latest beta version of the Google app 6.12.19. So if anyone has a Google Pixel, the demand to buy a Google Home device might be stifled, although, not everyone can share a single Pixel device for controlling your smart home, unless every member of your family already has a Google Pixel.

Apple has already had Home Kit which allowed Siri to control various smart home devices for a while. This is a step in the right direction for Google and smart home integration. Now if only we can get Google Assistant on more non-Pixel devices.

Via