Google Home app gains new ‘Favorites’ widget for improved smart home control

In the continuity of a trend that heralds great things for Android users, the Google Home app is on the brink of adding a ‘Favorites’ widget. This will bring, at a glance, an enhanced, streamlined, and customized smart home experience directly from his home screen with his favorite smart home actions, automations, and devices at his fingertips.

What is the ‘Favorites’ Widget

‘Favorite’ is one of the new Google Home app widgets that will make it easier to interact with smart home devices. You can add this widget to your Android home screen and it will grant you access to control your most used devices and automations without necessarily having to open the full app. The widget can be resized to an incredibly useful, small 1×2 size, which is absolutely invisible. How to Use the New Widget

Once you have the ‘Favorites’ widget added to your home screen, the Google Home app will prompt you to select your Google account and then the particular home you wish to manage. You may then proceed to edit and make a selection of those favorite devices that need to appear in the widget. This is so that tools and functions you use every time can always be at your fingertips.

Key Features and Benefits

1. Direct Control: Access all your most-used items directly from the home screen without juggling through many menus.
2. Personalization: Easily select only your most-used devices in the widget – everything happens just like you’d want it to in your everyday routines.
3. Space Efficient: As it can scale down to a size of 1×2, the widget won’t contain too much space on your screen and still will keep the rest of the space for apps which you are caring about.
4. Seamless Integration: The widget becomes part of the existing Google Home setup, retaining the app’s user interface and design ethos.

Availability

The ‘Favorites’ widget is now hidden in the Google Home app (v. 3.18.1.4); the server activation was done by Google, ensuring that the feature becomes live for everybody. Even though no official date has yet been given for this rollout to happen, it shouldn’t be long before users around the world start getting access to it and extend their Google Home setups accordingly.

Google Home app on Android will soon introduce new material you ‘Favorites’ widget.

Source: google_nws pic.twitter.com/gGAL3hIz4R

— AndroidXXL (@androidxxlcom) May 28, 2024

This is why the future ‘Favorites’ feature for smart home control within Google’s app is so exciting—it shows that Google is still trying to innovate in ways that will let users interact with their smart homes with as little friction as possible. Watch out for the updates rolling in, coming with this feature, a game-changer in how we have been interacting with our smart home all along. Stay Updated** So, do keep your Google Home app updated, as the official release announcement could be just around the corner. This widget is yet another step in making smart homes easily accessible and user-friendly.