Google updates Gemini for Home with AI-powered camera automations

Source: Engadget

Overview

Google is updating Gemini for Home, its AI assistant for smart homes, with new camera‑based automations, reliability improvements, and an updated Google Home app. Gemini for Home launched in early access in October 2025 and has replaced Google Assistant on Google’s smart‑home cameras, speakers, doorbells, and displays.

Camera‑Based Automations

At I/O 2026 Google expanded its Google Home Gemini built‑in program to make it easier for companies to create compatible cameras and speakers. The biggest change in this rollout is the ability to trigger automations based on what your cameras see. Gemini for Home can already identify events such as a package being dropped or glass breaking, and now those visual insights can start a smart‑home routine.

“To set these up, you just need to use simple, natural language prompts to describe the exact event you want to start an automation, and select which cameras should look for it,” Google says. “By pairing the unbound flexibility of Gemini’s visual intelligence with the devices in your Google Home ecosystem, anything your camera can see can now become the trigger that choreographs your entire home.”

Performance and Reliability Improvements

• Expanded ability to understand and execute multiple requests simultaneously.
• More tolerant of casual language in commands.
• Reduced instances where Gemini incorrectly claims it can’t perform a task.
• Better handling of alarms and timers.

Apple Music subscribers can once again stream the service on Google Home devices, and the Google Home app now makes adding Familiar Faces and submitting feedback easier.

Availability

The new features are available to all existing users (except Enterprise or Family Link child accounts) in the 19 countries and languages where Gemini for Home is currently rolled out.

Upcoming Hardware

The only major component still missing from Google’s broader smart‑home roadmap is the updated Google Home Speaker. Announced in October 2025 and slated to ship in spring 2026, the speaker has not yet been opened for orders.