TL;DR
- Smart Home Update: Google Home’s April update lets Gemini understand natural-language commands for lighting, appliances, and climate controls.
- New Features: Expressive Lighting, precision appliance controls, Spanish language support, kids access, and enhanced Gemini Live news summaries are all included.
- Broader Context: Google has shipped three consecutive monthly updates as it works to close the functionality gap between Gemini and the old Google Assistant.
Google Home users can now ask Gemini to set lights to “the color of the ocean” or preheat a smart oven to a specific temperature, as Google rolls out natural-language controls across its smart home platform. Rolling out since April 2, the updates mark the third round of monthly improvements since Google began transitioning from the old Google Assistant to its Gemini AI assistant on Home devices. Persistent user complaints that Gemini lagged behind the old Assistant for basic smart home tasks drove much of the overhaul.
Smarter Controls From Lighting to Climate
Expressive Lighting stands out as the headline feature, letting users describe their desired ambiance in conversational terms rather than selecting from a fixed color palette. Google Home Chief Product Officer Anish Kattukaran outlined the capability on X:
We’ve also significantly upgraded how Gemini understands and controls your devices to make interactions feel much more natural. My favorite example is Expressive Lighting: you no longer need exact color names. Just ask for “the color of the ocean” and Gemini handles the rest.…
— Anish Kattukaran (@AnishKattukaran) March 31, 2026
Alongside lighting, the update introduces Precision Appliance Controls that accept specific numerical values. Users can now say “preheat the smart oven to 350 degrees” or set exact humidity levels on compatible devices, commands that previously required workarounds or manual adjustments.
Advanced Climate Management adds support for holding temperature presets and clearing active thermostat modes with a single command. Users can now say “unset heating on the thermostats” rather than cycling through each mode individually, a common pain point for homes with multiple climate zones.
Google has also improved Gemini’s ability to identify devices, with the official release notes stating: “We’ve fine-tuned how Gemini identifies your devices. It is now much better at distinguishing between a ‘lamp’ and a ‘light,’ processing requests faster.” Fewer misidentified commands should reduce friction across all connected devices.
Spanish Support, Kids Access, and Gemini Live
Gemini for Home now extends to Spanish-speaking users, with early access live in Mexico and support for Spanish speakers in the US and Canada. Kattukaran announced the expansion on X, writing: “Hola, Mexico! We’re officially welcoming users in Mexico and adding Spanish to supported languages, available in all supported countries.” Users need Google Home version 4.12 or later to access the new language option.
Kids with supervised Google accounts can now access Gemini for Home alongside the rest of the family, allowing children to ask questions, request jokes, or get help with spelling through the smart assistant.
Gemini Live, Google’s conversational AI feature for smart speakers and displays, also receives deeper and more interactive news summaries. Users can ask “what’s the latest news?” or “catch me up on tech news” during a Live conversation and follow up with questions to explore specific stories. Nest Mini, Nest Hub Max, Nest Audio, and second-generation Nest Hub devices all support Gemini Live through Google Home Premium.
Closing the Assistant Gap
April’s update follows two earlier rounds of improvements in March 2026. A March 2 update brought device targeting improvements and Live Search for cameras, while a March 17 update delivered a 40% latency improvement and added Canadian French support. Three consecutive monthly updates underscore Google’s urgency in closing the functionality gap between Gemini and the old Assistant, which many users found more reliable for routine smart home control.
Google’s update pace reflects a broader challenge the company has been managing since the platform launched in October 2025. At that stage, Gemini lagged the old Assistant on core smart home tasks, a gap that prompted Google to delay the full Assistant sunset into 2026 rather than push users onto an unfinished platform. April’s improvements suggest Google is now making steady, if incremental, progress toward feature parity.
