Google seems to have nuked another useful Google Home feature

In 2018, Google added the option to call smart displays with Google Home over Duo. While it was considered a handy option by some, the feature truly did not take off as Google had expected. The lack of user interest could partly be blamed on Google’s limited love for smart displays (including abandoning the Nest Hub itself) and on the feature being limited to folks who use US English as their default device language. Now that Meet has replaced Duo, Google seems to be killing the option to call your home devices.

As noted by Reddit user chelitazz, Google appears to have removed the “Call Home” button from the Google Home app on Android. The button, which was previously positioned above the Broadcast option in the Google Home app, is no longer visible, and this change appears to be in line with the Home app’s recent redesign that brought deeper Gemini integration.

Google has also seemingly removed any mentions of Call Home from its support page — you can still find them in the archived version — and that confirms its departure from the option to call smart displays. Google has gone ahead and even wiped out the option to call Google Home from your phone.

Notably, the option to call a smart speaker from your phone isn’t completely gone. You can now call contacts through Meet or using the Household contact — so long as their account is also added to the smart display. However, it’s slightly inconvenient, given that Call Home allowed users to call the Nest Hub or any other smart display, even if they were using their own Google account. This may especially harrow those who used it to call kids or seniors who don’t own personal phones.

Google’s removal of the Call Home option may not impact many users, given its language limitations that prevented it from being popular in the first place. But it may be another way the Google Home overhaul and the company’s tall promises for a smarter virtual assistant fail to meet users’ expectations.