There’s a big chance Google is going to explain more about this on Wednesday
Google appears to be pulling a section of the Nest app into the Google Home app to offer users more functionality with their routines. The section is allegedly going to be called Home Routines and will trigger different things to happen inside a house when the owner comes or leaves.
These new routines will happen with no interaction from the user because they’re based on their phone’s location data and possibly some Nest product sensors. This means that whenever you leave home with your phone, your Nest can make sure that all the lights are off and the doors are locked.
This is very similar to a Nest App function called ‘Nest Home/Away Assist,’ which Google says will stay for now, according to Android Police. However, Google has added a few more features to the new Google Home app Routines, so it’s likely that most people will want to switch over.
While parts of this feature may have leaked out in mid-September, a new Google Support page has solidified the feature. From that page, we know that people will need to own at least one of select Nest devices to make this work. The Nest devices that have the ability to sense people around them are:
- Nest Guard
- Nest Secure Tag
- Nest thermostats
- Nest Protect (Wired)
- Nest × Yale Lock
If you don’t have one of these, you can also use your phone to determine your location as well. The support page says that the feature works well when everyone in the home shares their location so that it can more accurately know when people are home or not.
Overall, this is a pretty ambitious and futuristic step in smart homes that could be very cool if it works properly. Google mentions using to control your home thermostat better to save energy, and there are probably even better things that it can enable in the future.
Since the Support page has gone live it seems very likely that we’ll see some mention of this at Google’s ‘Launch Night In’ event that’s taking place on Wednesday, September 30th. If you’re curious as to what else to expect from Google, check out our breakdown of the event, here.
Source: Android Police