Google Home App Gets 3 Improvements, Including Favorite Reordering

The new Google Home app that has been in public preview since November has seen a number of improvements since landing on our devices. Google seems committed to listening to feedback on it and then delivering ideas that have made it more and more useful.

This week, Google announced 3 updates to the new Google Home app, two of which are borderline major improvements. The third is for Wear OS users, but it’s also a big one if you happen to have Nest cameras and receive notifications from them.

• Reordering Favorites: As that bold text explains, Google is going to give you the option to reorder your favorites on the Favorites page. This has been slowly rolling out for a solid month now and I still don’t have it, so if you do, I tip my cap to you, friend. The option should show up just under your favorites list next to the “Edit” button. This seems like such a simple idea, but it really is a big deal for those of us who have lots of favorites set.
• Faster live camera feeds: Nest camera feeds aren’t the speediest thing in the Google Home, so Google is going to work on that. In this week’s update, they claim to be “rolling out improvements to the speed of live view for cameras, and how quickly you can access your camera recordings.”
• Nest Cam notifications on Wear OS: For those with Wear OS watches, you’ll be able to see Nest Cam notifications on your watch with pictures included, so you can actually see what just happened. I swear this is an old feature from long ago that is just now returning, or am I Thursday morning drunk? Either way, great! This only works from Nest camera products from 2021 and forward.

Plenty of good things happening in the new Google Home app, which I feel like got off to a poor start in the minds of many. It took far too long for me to be accepted into the preview program, but once I was, I think I’ve mostly enjoyed the app. After being warned to not join, because the app supposedly had issues, I’ve got to say that I kind of like it. I despised the old Google Home app and really get use out of this Favorites page, as well as the media controls that pop-up.

You all liking the new Google Home app or nah?

// Google Nest