The smart home is rapidly evolving into an intuitive ecosystem to make life easier, and its next era will be powered by Gemini and the Home APIs. This isn’t just about connected devices; it’s about creating effortless experiences.
With the Home APIs, our goal has been to empower all developers to build innovative devices and experiences for the home. Now, with Gemini in the Home APIs, we’re taking the next step: bringing the best of Google’s AI directly to you. We’re moving beyond simple device control to create an effortless smart home that truly understands, adapts, and responds to your users’ needs.
At Google I/O 2024, we announced the Home APIs, providing app developers with access to over 600M devices. We are excited to share that our ecosystem has grown even more to over 750M devices that developers now have access to along with Google’s hubs and Matter infrastructure, and an automation engine powered by Google intelligence.
We’ve spent time rolling it out to a few early access partners, our Android and iOS SDKs are in public developer beta, and some developers have already leveraged the Home APIs to release new apps on Android.
Partner experiences built with Home APIs
Last year, we shared the innovative new ways partners like ADT, LG, and Eve built on Google Home, and now there are even more partners showcasing how Home APIs are making their customer experience even better:
First Alert
Control your smoke alarm from the First Alert app or the Google Home app and seamlessly interconnect with your existing Nest Protects.
Yale
Yale’s upcoming Matter lock, the successor to the Nest x Yale lock, takes advantage of the best-in-class lock features in the Google Home app, built using the Home APIs.
Cync
Imagine your home automatically adjusting lighting and fan settings to ensure your pet’s comfort when you’re away. Cync is making this a reality.
iRobot
Select iRobot Roomba® robots can create automations using Google Home presence sensing, so they can automatically clean your home when you leave the house, ensuring a spotless return.
Motorola Moto Tag
You can create custom smart home routines triggered by simple tag interactions, offering unparalleled personalization.
Tuya Smart
Tuya Smart is enhancing seamless interoperability. Now, users can easily set up a Matter device and control devices connected to Google directly in Tuya Smart app.
Bringing your cameras to life with Gemini-powered Home APIs
Last fall, we introduced Gemini-powered camera features in public preview in the Google Home app, allowing users to ask natural questions like, “Did the kids leave their bikes in the driveway?” and instantly get relevant video clips. Now we are bringing those camera experiences directly to developers too.
We’re including the standard camera features you’d expect – like live streaming, event history access, two-way talk capabilities, and camera settings. But we’re going further by integrating the Gemini-powered intelligence that our users love, such as AI descriptions and the ability to search camera history, making it easier to quickly identify what you are looking for in your camera history, keeping you and your family safer.
Making automation effortless with Gemini
Figuring out the perfect automation to help improve your home experience and implementing it can be a daunting task many users don’t want to undertake. So, we’re introducing new Gemini-powered features to the Automations API designed to make creating powerful routines easier than ever:
- Suggested Automations: Gemini intelligently analyzes the devices in a user’s home and proactively suggests potentially useful automations they might not have thought of.
- Help me create: Building automations becomes as simple as a conversation. Users can tell Gemini what they want to achieve using natural language, and the automation is drafted for them.
- New Automation Starters: We’re adding more sophisticated triggers based on dates and weather conditions, allowing automations to respond more dynamically to the complexities of real life.
These new features will enable you to offer unprecedented Gemini-powered intelligent capabilities to your users more quickly than ever before.
Gemini across the Google Home surfaces
The benefits don’t stop within your app. When you integrate your devices using the Google Home APIs, they can participate in Gemini-powered experiences across Google’s surfaces.
For instance, Google Home users, while in the Gemini app, can control and inquire about their smart home devices using natural language. We’ve also previewed Gemini enhancing the voice experience on smart speakers, smart displays, and Google TV, enabling more natural interaction, deeper exploration of topics, device control, and even voice-based automation creation. And we are testing a Home Summary Widget on Pixel with a select set of users, providing insights about your home without having to open an app!
The next era of the smart home is here, and it is powered by Gemini. It’s about more than just connected devices; it’s about creating truly effortless, intuitive experiences. By bringing Nest camera intelligence and Gemini’s power to the Home APIs, we’re excited to see the innovative ways you’ll continue to shape the future of the connected home.
Be among the first to try Gemini-powered Home APIs
We are launching an early access program for Gemini-powered Home APIs, to a small group of partners later this year. Sign up the Developer Newsletter to be among the first to explore these cutting-edge capabilities and to stay updated on the latest developments. The potential to transform users’ smart home experiences is in your hands, and we’re excited to see what you create!
And to make things even more exciting, we’re also kicking off a series of themed Developer Challenges designed to spark your imagination and push your skills to the next level. These challenges will provide a platform to showcase your creativity and technical expertise. Not only will you have the opportunity to learn and grow as a developer, but the winners will get a chance to win some amazing prizes, including presenting to Google engineers!
Help shape the future of Google products
User feedback is critical to ensure we continue building more inclusive and helpful products. Join our developer research program and share feedback on all kinds of Google products & tools. Sign up here!
Explore this announcement and all Google I/O 2025 updates on io.google.
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