Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google Home is rolling out a new automation editor experience on Android and iOS.
- The editor supports conditions, adds new actions and triggers, and just empowers more complicated automations.
- While some features aren’t yet working, you still have the option to go back to the old editor.
Having a proper smart home means more than just installing some Wi-Fi lightbulbs, smart outlets, and security cameras. If you really want to get the most out of all that tech, you’re going to want to set up some automations, where one event triggers a bunch of other things to start happening in sequence — like maybe when someone rings your doorbell, you want the show you’re watching to automatically pause and the lights in your foyer to turn on.
Getting that all configured properly, though, can be a huge undertaking — and that’s even assuming that all the automated stuff you’d like to do is supported at all. Thankfully, Google just announced that the Home app is receiving a major update to its automation editor, including adding in some new starter triggers.
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Looking through Google’s list of triggers, we spot one new one for when the temperature hits a specific figure. But it sounds like Google’s adding a whole lot more, and in its announcement the company does clarify that more additions are on the way.
We’re also seeing the arrival of the new conditions options we previewed earlier this year, letting you getting even more specific about when triggers should be active. That promises to be an exceptionally powerful tool for being incredibly precise with the automations you create.
The last big one here is the addition of one-time automations, which basically just let you schedule an automation like you’d set an alarm — only without forcing you to have it recurring. That sounds perfect for when you’re going to be away, but want to make sure that a one-off event still happens.
All that sounds good, but Google does warn us that the new editor is still a bit of a work in progress, and it doesn’t yet support everything the old one did — you can’t yet change light colors, or turn off cameras, for instance. But our saving grace may be that Google isn’t forcing the new experience on everyone just yet, and even if you try it and don’t like it, you have the ability for now to revert to the old editor.
With nothing to lose, give it a try, and let us know what you think in the comments! If you don’t see it yet, sit tight, as it’s rolling out in phases and may still be on its way to your phone.
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