Your old Google Home & Nest speakers are getting a surprise upgrade
Google is bringing a surprisingly comprehensive update to owners of its older Home and Nest smart speakers.
Apple might be hogging all the smart home headlines recently with the launch of its HomeView gizmo (and accompanying LG-produced accessories), but Google has been at this game for years.
While it doesn’t have any flashy new hardware to announce (probably a smart move), it does appear set to throw a bone to legacy Google Home and Next users.
As 9to5Google notes, the company is readying a new firmware version for its smart speakers. Version 3.79.550760 has just been made available through its Preview Program, promising a series of improvements to older devices.
These include:
- Audio & media streaming and volume improvements
- Setup and connectivity improvements on WiFi issues
- Google Assistant entry experience improvements
- Smart home control experience improvements
- Overall performance and stability improvements
These are some sweeping changes, promising an easier set-up process, superior sound quality, and upgrades to the smart home and Google Assistant experience (which has now switched to Gemini, of course).
Ben Patterson/Foundry
Google is testing all of these improvements on a host of older smart home devices, including the Google Home (2016), Google Home Mini (2017), Google Nest Mini (2019), and Google Nest Audio (2020).
If you own one of these devices and are keen to give your ageing speaker a bit of a spruce-up, head to the Google Home app on your phone, tap on the relevant device, then hit that gear Settings icon at the top.
Now tap Device information > Preview programme, and hit the Join programme prompt. You’ll then need to wait for the update to occur overnight.
Failing that, Google will doubtless start rolling this update out to all users over the coming weeks.
