Screenshot by Brian Bennett/CNET
You no longer need a $130 Google Home to take full advantage of the search giant’s connected tech.
Teased a couple of weeks ago via a blog post, the Google Assistant on the company’s own Pixel phones will now be able to control your smart home with a voice command. Simply go to the settings of the Google Assistant and pull up “Home Control” and you’ll have access to the same connected tech as the Google Home.
Since it was first introduced on the Google Pixel and the Google Home last year, Google’s new conversational digital assistant — aptly called Google Assistant — has always had different capabilities on different devices. The Home can’t pull up directions, for instance, but the Pixel can. Now, the Pixel’s gaining some of the Home’s tricks.
Controlling your smart home with your phone might not sound like anything new, but Home Control gives you one place to manage your compatible devices and group them into rooms. Once you sync your devices to your Google Assistant, you can use your voice to tell your smart home what to do. Now, that command will work whether you have a Google Home or a Google Pixel.
