You can assign Google Home speakers to specific rooms now

While we’re covering the #madebygoogle event (expect more posts soon), Google has been prepping some of its existing apps and services for the new devices. One of them is the revamped Google Home app. We reported about this yesterday but we weren’t able to talk about one new important feature owners of multiple Google Home speakers (or those who plan to buy the new Google Home Mini and Max). The app will now let you assign a specific Google Home speaker to a specific room. So, if you assign your Google Home to your bedroom and say “OK Google, turn off the bedroom,” then it’ll switch off all smart devices in your room, including the speaker itself. This, of course, will only work if you have more than one speaker and with the release of the Home Mini, Google seems to be preparing for the possibility of you adding more Google Home speakers in your house.

Source: Android Authority

Google revamps Home app

Just a day ahead of the release of Google’s Pixel 2 smartphones, Google cleans up its Google Home app, giving the app a sleeker look. Google simplifies the tabs and goes with just a Discover and Browse sections. Discover focuses more on your general needs and shows you tips about the different Google Home and Google Assistant functions and features, recommended searches and Chromecast apps, among many others.

The Browse tab, on the other hand, houses all your entertainment-related needs. At the top of the page you’ll see popular TV shows and movies you can browse through. Going through these there will be specific sections for different media streaming apps like YouTube, Google Play Movies, Netflix, and Spotify, among others. If you select on the TV shows, Music, and Movies buttons, that’ll take you to those specific categories. On top of that. There are new splash screens, too, for these categories with the titles showing up bigger at the top of the page and the volume controls getting a new look. If you’re wondering if you got these changes, the version of the app you should have is 1.25.81.13.

Source: Android Central

Shopping list app Out of Milk gets Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa support

If you use shopping list app Out of Milk, you might like the new features. The app now supports both Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. You will need to follow these instructions for Google Assistant on Google Home and this one for Amazon Alexa and you need to have an account created on the Out of Milk app or website to access the Out of Milk Voice assistant. Once you have that up and running though, you can do things like add and remove items from a list, include the quantity, add multiple items to a list, check which list you’re working on, and read off items on a list or off all the lists.

Source: Android Police

Google Home now gets CBS All Access support

Google Home has already been a voice-enabled remote control of sorts for Netflix. Now it’s adding that support for CBS All Access and CW TV accounts in the US. The CBS All Access support will be particularly useful when the streaming service makes its way here next year. You can start streaming if you have a Chromecast connected to your TV or a Chromecast-enabled TV and, of course, if you have a subscription to the services. You can link this through the Videos and Photos section in the Google Home app. The feature is rolling out so keep an eye out for it.

Source: Engadget