As part of Google I/O 2024, Google has announced a slew of upgrades coming to its digital services. These include some pretty big upgrades for all smart home and Google TV users, with the latter in particular potentially getting an upgrade to their TV that makes it double-up as a Google Home hub.
Firstly, the big announcement is that Google is opening up its Google Home smart home network to app creators. This will allow them to add smart device automation to their existing apps, or create new software that can access over 600M smart home devices (via Google’s Developer blog). Best of all, these apps can run on Android or iOS; so if you have an iPhone you won’t miss out on the Google Home improvements.
We’ll have to wait and see how developers use these new powers but we can already think of several fun use cases we might see – such as a wellness app that can mange your smart lights to help create a more relaxing environment while you meditate, or a game that can play its audio through your smart speakers for a more immersive experience.
To get this automation to work you’d just need the appropriate smart home appliances and a Google Home hub.
Need a Google Home? No problem
If you don’t have a Google Home hub or a Matter controller of any kind you’re probably thinking none of these improvements will mean much to you. Well, Google also revealed that, later this year, devices such as “Chromecast with Google TV, select panel TVs with Google TV running Android 14 or higher, and eligible LG brand TVs” will become Google Home hubs.
Annoyingly it doesn’t specify which LG TVs or Google TVs will get this upgrade, but when the feature rolls out we should have a better understanding of the devices it'll affect.
You will still need the best smart home devices – like one of the best smart speakers or best smart lights – to take advantage of Home APIs and their new features. But getting your smart home started should soon be a lot simpler for Google TV owners.
With this new smart home API integration, the Google TV hubs could also see some major software improvements from your favorite third-party apps. Hopefully making it easier to get into watching your favorite TV and films, or elevating your existing setup.
