Google Home kicks off August with big app updates and a smarter Gemini for Home

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Google has announced a fresh batch of updates for Gemini for Home (Early access) and the Google Home app. The latest August 5 update adds a fun new AI-powered Storytime feature to Gemini for Home and promises to make everyday smart home controls more reliable in the app.

One of the biggest additions is a new Interactive Storytime feature for Gemini. It allows users to create and modify stories by issuing voice commands to the AI assistant.

You can ask Gemini to invent an original story, put your children into the adventure, or change the plot while the story is being told. For example, you can replace the Big Bad Wolf in The Three Little Pigs with a T. rex or have the main character suddenly discover a treasure map.

Outside of Storytime, Google is also improving some of the features people use every day. Gemini for Home is now smarter and better at understanding alarm and timer requests in natural language, including your preference for a 12-hour or 24-hour clock.

Gemini is also getting better at answering questions like how much time is left on a timer, and it can now more reliably understand requests such as setting a timer for cooking a soft-boiled egg.

The company has also made a few quality-of-life improvements to Google Home speakers. Turning off or dimming the lights now plays a different confirmation sound, and a bug that could leave the speaker’s light ring glowing after routines finished has been fixed. Google also notes that a brief Spotify outage from late July has been resolved.

Meanwhile, the Google Home app is receiving a much larger update focused on cameras and smart home devices.