Google Overhauls Home App with Battery Boost, Device Tile Fixes

Google has rolled out updates to its Home app and voice assistant Gemini for Home. The changes aim to improve battery efficiency, fix device tile issues, and enhance overall user experience.

The Google Home widget has been optimized to pause background updates when the phone's screen is powered off or locked. This should help save battery life on phones and connected cameras. Additionally, devices tiles that were previously grayed out after returning from controller screens will now display correctly without requiring a reload of the screen.

Other improvements include smoother multi-account switching, more reliable smart device setup, and reduced startup crashes on Google TV devices. The updates also address issues with camera live streams and scrolling through video timelines. On the voice assistant front, Gemini for Home has received five updates to improve its behavior, including follow-up question handling and TV streaming playback.