Google Smart home Virtual Summit came with some interesting updates for Google Assistant on the upcoming Android 11 OS. The focus is on smart home devices and their implementation with Google’s virtual assistant. Google has introduced smart home initiatives for making it easier for users and at the backend, for developers to make the integration as smooth as possible. For this, they previewed some platform tools with Smart Home API being the focal point.
First up Android 11 is going to have dedicated Smart Home controls for easy access and a power menu that is linked to Google Assistant. With the Home app, users can toggle their favorite controls. For development partners, it is as easy as configuring the devices available in the control space. Google has also introduced the Lights Effect trait which gradually brightens/dims lights based on schedules or alarms. Later this year there will the addition of Gentle Sleep and Wake effects for smart lights to enhance the user experience.
The new OS version will also allow the users to troubleshoot all the connected devices in a jiffy. For this Google will introduce new tools to improve reliability and how the real-time state of devices is addressed. Low latency is one of the focus area as Google will streamline route commands via local network, eliminating the cloud jump.
It’s one thing getting the intelligent smart home integration and another how to use them. For this Google has launched the AppFlip which makes signing-in to the apps a breeze. You can easily toggle between the local app during account linking procedure when using the Google Assistant or Home app. For now, this feature is available for all Smart Home Actions and other Conversational Actions.
Also at the summit, it was announced that for developers there are improvements to the logging tools which now have event logging and usage metric tools for better access to smart home integrations. Enhancements have been implemented in the Local Home SDK, account linking flow and Smart Home events to give developers the option to see the metrics from the console.
