Lenovo Ships Out R5 Update to Smart Displays With Thermostat Improvements, Dismissible Home Tiles

Lenovo detailed the latest Smart Display update this week, and since all Smart Displays run the same software, it’s safe to bet you can expect the same goodies to appear on your JBL and LG variants, as well as Google Home Hub.

As for what’s new, you can read the entire changelog below, but to name a few — Updated cookbook feature, ability to dismiss certain home tiles, new photo actions, and improved functionality of the thermostat control feature.

Here’s the whole thing straight from Lenovo.

What’s New

Updated Cookbook Feature

Planning meals just got easier. Cookbook is your virtual cookbook that allows you to find recipes on your smart display and save them for later.

Just say, “Hey Google, save this recipe” and your recipe will be added to your Cookbook. When you’re ready to get cooking, try saying “Hey Google, show me my Cookbook” and find the recipe in just a few seconds.

• “show my cookbook”
•  “add to cookbook”
•  “remove from cookbook”
•  “save this recipe”
•  “show me my saved recipes”

Photo Actions

Favorite, Share & Remove Photo

Multiple Remote Control Tiles

We now support being able to always show the remote control when accessed via voice or the Home View for another device even if you have a local media session.

We will also show up to two mini tiles for remote sessions on the homescreen in addition to a local playback session.

Dismissible Home Tiles

We now support the ability to dismiss tiles from the home screen. Just swipe them up!

Note, some home screen tiles are not dismissible, including:

• Calendar
• Commute
• Explore
• News, Music & Video Recommendations
• Upcoming Reminder

Heat/Cool Thermostat Improvement

Heat-cool is one of 5 mode options on the Nest Thermostat (heat, cool, eco, off, and heat-cool) that  “will create a schedule that will switch automatically between heating and cooling on the Nest thermostat to keep your home within a preferred temperature range.” The mode is particularly helpful during the shoulder seasons in regions that have cold nights and hot days.

• “Turn on heat/cool mode.”
• “Set heat/cool mode to 68 and 72 degrees.”
• “Set the [thermostat name] between 68 to 72.”
• “Turn off the [thermostat name].”

Individual Light Control (Within a group)

When the user is shown a group light controller (e.g. Living room lights) they’ll be able to control the brightness and on/off state for each light within that group.

Lenovo specifies that all owners in support regions should see the update within a week. We assume that goes for you, too, Home Hub owners.

// Lenovo