Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google has confirmed that the Google Home app can now use your Wi-Fi for presence-sensing capabilities.
- More specifically, the app can detect whether you’re home or away by checking if your phone is connected to the home Wi-Fi.
- This means Google Home can automatically initiate routines based on your phone’s Wi-Fi connection.
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According to the official release notes, the latest version of the Google Home app (v3.39) adds Wi-Fi presence capabilities:
Added support in presence sensing to adjust Home & Away status based on when your mobile device connects or disconnects from a selected Wi-Fi network.
In other words, Google Home can initiate an Away Routine when it detects your phone is no longer connected to your home network. And it can switch back to the Home Routine when your phone is back on home Wi-Fi. This joins Google Home’s existing ability to use your phone location for presence sensing.
Google Home can also detect your presence via other devices. The app relies on other triggers across various smart home devices, such as motion detection, voice/touch commands, volume adjustments, media playback, and more.
In any event, Wi-Fi sensing is another handy addition to Google Home’s presence-sensing feature. I’m guessing this could be handy if you or other household members would rather not share phone locations. It’s also useful as another layer for more reliable sensing.
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