Google Home FAQ

thecivvie

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Will google deliver to Parcel Motel UK address ? seriously considering pulling the trigger on a home

Yes or Parcel Wizard

BobbyT28

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Will google deliver to Parcel Motel UK address ? seriously considering pulling the trigger on a home

Yes they will.

Mine got delivered to PM from Google on wed.

Blacktie.

So I use pocket casts as my podcast player but that doesn't seem to work so great for google home without just casting it.

But when I ask it to play a podcast it will just start playing it. Where is it getting the podcast info from as as far as I can tell the google play music store doesn't have a podcast section yet?

thecivvie

Blacktie. wrote: »

So I use pocket casts as my podcast player but that doesn't seem to work so great for google home without just casting it.

But when I ask it to play a podcast it will just start playing it. Where is it getting the podcast info from as as far as I can tell the google play music store doesn't have a podcast section yet?

Pocket casts will not work on GH but will work with Google Assistant on an Android phone. The commands in the help section. I wish it would work with GH.
Not sure where GH gets it Podcast info from

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

bk

jogdish wrote: »

Do you mind me asking, is having the house with HUE lights very expensive? How did you go about buying them, one at a time or some multi starter pack?

I bought mine gradually over two years picking up bulbs and lamps as they popped up in various sales, mostly Amazon sales.

It wasn't cheap, but doing it gradually and using sales helped a lot.

Buying a starter pack that includes a hub in a sale like todays is a very good starting point.

The Black Oil wrote: »

Re the last point, this is what bk flagged earlier.

By language, do you mean the assistant's voice and where is Country Code in settings, btw?

Those are what are displayed in the info page for each device. I'm not 100% sure what they mean. I'm pretty sure Language is the assistant language I've set. But Country Code one is weird, US makes sense for my GH as I bought it there, but I'm surprised it is identifying my Mini as Irish as like everyone else I bought it from the UK.

conor-mr2 wrote: »

Multi user account isnt available in Ireland.
I've had no success in setting it up thus far.

I should quantify this with the fact I've tried on both my Android and Iphone to changing the regions to Us/UK and also setting a US address on the Ghome (so it now talks to me with an American Accent).

That is weird, I got it working. But then one of my devices, a GH is actually from the US, so perhaps that makes a difference. I did have to set the iPhone to the US Region (in the iPhones own OS settings, it reboots after changing) for it to appear as a blue bar in the GHome app under the devices.

thecivvie

Searched but cannot find an answer. Is it possible to change the name of a Google Home unit, or do I need to unlink it from the account and re add

thecivvie

thecivvie wrote: »

Searched but cannot find an answer. Is it possible to change the name of a Google Home unit, or do I need to unlink it from the account and re add

found it in tbe one section i never looked at

The high horse brigade

Look at this idea


https://docksocket.com

conor-mr2

Tried the Factory Reset on the Ghome and set up with Ios App.

Still has country Code IE in the Ghome settings. Again when I changed region on the phone to UK from US there was a brief "Multiroom support" blue button and then it vanished.
I wonder if I were behind a VPN would the country code change or perhaps it's already baked in... hmm

OK update.. I was able to get the multi-user support button but... after I add me.. the option goes away in the devices.
I guess it knows my location is Ireland

BailMeOut

BailMeOut wrote: »

thank you.

ordered three mini's today for the kids for christmas. $29 each from Best Buy in USA.

niallb

I have multi-user working for 5 people, and multi-room audio.

My GHome device location is set to my Eircode, Ireland. This means weather works well.

I have Assistant Language set to English US which is the important one.

You need to add different accounts from a different device logged in as that user. It's not a vanishing button to add another account.

Set up the Google Home app on the other person's phone or a tablet and then search for devices. Under the Google Home you should see the option to Link Account. Follow the prompts to set up voice profile.
It is of course possible it's an iPhone thing. I set all ours up on Android.

DoubleJoe7

Quick question as I'm thinking of getting one of these - do you need to buy a Hue bridge for lights to work with Google Home or is it a case that you just get the bulbs and it's good to go with the GH alone? Thanks

EagererBeaver

DoubleJoe7 wrote: »

Quick question as I'm thinking of getting one of these - do you need to buy a Hue bridge for lights to work with Google Home or is it a case that you just get the bulbs and it's good to go with the GH alone? Thanks

You need a hub. Some lights don't, but Hue ones do.

One option might be the Amazon Echo Plus that has a bridge built in.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

EagererBeaver

Patww79 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

The hardware for it has to go somewhere - into the bulbs (e.g. Lohas), via a hub or built into a controlling device. Design and miniaturisation etc aren't cheap, so you're unlikely to find it in a Home Mini or an Echo Dot any time soon.

I don't know about for the mini, but for Alexa devices, the Amazon page will tell you whether you need a hub or not .

EagererBeaver

Patww79 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

The hardware for it has to go somewhere - into the bulbs (e.g. Lohas), via a hub or built into a controlling device. Design and miniaturisation etc aren't cheap, so you're unlikely to find it in a Home Mini or an Echo Dot any time soon.

I don't know about for the mini, but for Alexa devices, the Amazon page will tell you whether you need a hub or not. The same will apply for GHome.

ForestFire

Patww79 wrote: »

Never realised that about the Hue bulbs, glad I never bought them now. Surely the point in a Home or Echo would be to add devices without additional hubs and just having a central one.

Is there a list anywhere of the stuff (sockets, bulbs, etc) for the Home that work directly with the GH?

Tp-link lights no hub required and have been on special last few days.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01MS8BC5A/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1511600642&sr=8-1-spons&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=tp+link+bulb&psc=1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01N23ACHA/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1511600642&sr=8-5&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=tp+link+bulb&dpPl=1&dpID=21-LtD5juDL&ref=plSrch

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01NCW7X2Z/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1511600642&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=tp+link+bulb&dpPl=1&dpID=218MLEDzLZL&ref=plSrch

Mantis Toboggan

Just noticed the volume buttons on the top, handy if you're standing beside it.

bk

ForestFire wrote: »

Tp-link lights no hub required and have been on special last few days.

There are some downsides in going for wifi bulbs like these:
- They don't come in small bulb sizes like GU10, candle bulbs, etc.
- They use a more power in standby (when off) about 1.5 to 2w versus 0.5w for Hue.
- They might not work if your Broadband goes down.

EagererBeaver wrote: »

One option might be the Amazon Echo Plus that has a bridge built in.

You could, but I wouldn't. You lose a lot of functionality of the Hue hub and Hue ecosystem by doing this. For instance, this only allows you to turn on/off and dimm bulbs, no control of white ambiance or colours.

Patww79 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

With the exception of the Plus, Home/Echo aren't actually hubs and it doesn't really make sense for them to be. It would require to have a lot of extra hardware, zigbee/zwave radios, which would just drive up the price of them and that wouldn't make sense as the idea is for you to have multiple GH's in your home.

Also see my comments about the Plus above, where other devices try to be hubs (alarm systems, routers, etc.) you tend to end up having a far worse experience, you have to use the hub makers software rather then the original manufacturers software like Hue. It usually ends up being a far more inferior experience.

It is much better for Home/Alexa to integrate with other devices at the software API level, rather then trying to be a hub.

Hue is excellent, if you are planning to get more then 1 bulb, then go with Hue. Just get one of the starter packages that include a hub and some bulbs and are currently on sale.

BTW Wifi bulbs/sockets don't actually really directly work with GH/Alexa, they are still just using API's/cloud services. And there are downsides to this. There are all trade offs.

EagererBeaver

bk wrote: »

EagererBeaver wrote: »

One option might be the Amazon Echo Plus that has a bridge built in.

You could, but I wouldn't. You lose a lot of functionality of the Hue hub and Hue ecosystem by doing this. For instance, this only allows you to turn on/off and dimm bulbs, no control of white ambiance or colours.

Really? That's a problem with the Hue software then rather then GH/Alexa capability. I can control colours etc on my Lohas bulbs via both my Home Mini and Echo. Can't do any time related settings, mind.

bk

EagererBeaver wrote: »

Really? That's a problem with the Hue software then rather then GH/Alexa capability. I can control colours etc on my Lohas bulbs via both my Home Mini and Echo. Can't do any time related settings, mind.

No, it is a problem with the Amazon software.

If you are using a third party hub, then fundamentally you are no longer using the philips software/apis/etc. you are now using the software of the manufacturer of the hub, as it has taken full control of the devices.

This is why I'm not convinced about hubs like this, the hub manufacturers don't have the same motivation to do the software well, like the original company did.

ForestFire

Tp link have a default mode in power on so will work fine without wifi/internet.

I would need to check the standby current vs hubs.

EagererBeaver

bk wrote: »

EagererBeaver wrote: »

Really? That's a problem with the Hue software then rather then GH/Alexa capability. I can control colours etc on my Lohas bulbs via both my Home Mini and Echo. Can't do any time related settings, mind.

No, it is a problem with the Amazon software.

If you are using a third party hub, then fundamentally you are no longer using the philips software/apis/etc. you are now using the software of the manufacturer of the hub, as it has taken full control of the devices.

This is why I'm not convinced about hubs like this, the hub manufacturers don't have the same motivation to do the software well, like the original company did.

Well why does it work for my non-Hue software? I have two Lohas WiFi bulbs and I can control everything except timers with both Alexa and GH.

givecredit

Anyone manage to get the Google Home to give Irish News Briefings? Similar to how Echo uses the RTE news feed?

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

bk

EagererBeaver wrote: »

Well why does it work for my non-Hue software? I have two Lohas WiFi bulbs and I can control everything except timers with both Alexa and GH.

Because you are talking about something fundamentally different with wifi bulbs.

When you connect your wifi bulbs to GH and Alexa, they really aren't taking over control of the bulb. They are simply linking with and interfacing with the bulbs cloud API.

So when you say: "Hey Google, turn on bulb", what is happening:
- Google sends the command "turn on bulb" to the Lohas web server/cloud service.
- The Lohas web server/cloud service forwards the command to the bulb.

Note the Lohas web server/cloud service is still there and still being used. GH/Alexa haven't really taken over control of the bulb, they are jsut interacting with it indirectly.

What is being suggested here is very different, with the Echo Plus, you are suggesting that the Echo plus takes over full and direct control of the Hue lights over the direct zigbee connection. The Echo Plus now directly owns the bulbs and commands are sent directly to the bulb. This is a much lower level, direct and fundamental level of control and is very different to what your Lohas bulbs are doing.

This now means that only Alexa/Echo Plus can control these bulbs. This means Googel Home can no longer interact with them, The Hue app can't see them or control them anymore, the Hue IFTTT channel won't work with them, the stringify/yonomi/harmony/nest integration with them won't work anymore. You now have lost all the richness of the Hue environment.

Instead you are now relying on Amazon to implement features in their app and at the zigbee level in order to control the bulb, such as implement colour control, etc.

That is why this idea of all in one hubs really isn't so great. Better to leave things work together at a higher level, either using cloud/web services or using something like Home Assistant at the local level.

ForestFire

ForestFire wrote: »

Tp-link lights no hub required and have been on special last few days.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01MS8BC5A/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1511600642&sr=8-1-spons&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=tp+link+bulb&psc=1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01N23ACHA/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1511600642&sr=8-5&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=tp+link+bulb&dpPl=1&dpID=21-LtD5juDL&ref=plSrch

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01NCW7X2Z/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1511600642&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=tp+link+bulb&dpPl=1&dpID=218MLEDzLZL&ref=plSrch

I had the LB110 and I found it awful! The TP Link smart plugs are great but not their bulbs. I got a Xiaomi Yeelight bulb and works great. No disconnecting from the wifi all the time.

eoinfitzokk

The most frustrating thing I've found with the Google Assistant is that when you say add items to a shopping list, Google assistant does not add these to my Google keep shopping list. Google Now voice assistant does this.

This is typical Google duplication. What's the need for two lists, what can't Google just use the code from Google Now to add items to my Google Keep?!

On the plus side I've managed set mine up in my car with a 20,000 power bank.

wexfordman2

eoinfitzokk wrote: »

On the plus side I've managed set mine up in my car with a 20,000 power bank.

Eh ?