These Gemini commands finally made my Google Home feel smart

Google Home received its biggest upgrade in years with the Gemini for Home rollout. Google Assistant, which had become increasingly unreliable over the years, is now replaced by Gemini. It's easy to focus on the downsides of the transition, like how Gemini is generally slower when responding to requests. I can't help but focus on the positives — Gemini is a smarter and more helpful smart home controller than Assistant.

However, you won't realize Gemini's potential by using the same commands you fed to Assistant. You need to come up with new ways to manage your smart home that align with Gemini's strengths, such as multitasking and conversational understanding. These are the commands I've used to make the most out of a smart home with Google Home and Nest speakers, displays, cameras, and thermostats.

Search camera history with your voice

Watch the live event on your Nest Hub display or Pixel Tablet

Cameras are at the heart of my smart home, as I have a Nest Doorbell Battery and two Nest Cam Indoor security cameras. Plus, my Nest Hub Max can handle double duty as a home security camera. Paired with my Google Home Premium Advanced subscription, Gemini can answer questions about what my cameras see in natural language.

I use this feature most when trying to figure out which packages have been delivered, where they were delivered, and when they were delivered. Say I get a ping from USPS that a package was delivered — that package might've been left in my mailbox, at the leasing office, or by my front door. By asking Gemini the following question, I can narrow down the possibilities.

Hey Google, when did my package get delivered today?

Gemini will reply with the exact time packages were delivered, if they were placed in front of my doorbell camera. On days when I get multiple packages, I can clarify the command to specifically ask when a UPS or FedEx package was delivered. Smart speakers with Gemini will read the answer aloud, and smart displays will play the video event of the package being delivered automatically.

I live in a quieter apartment now, but there was a ton of foot traffic in front of my doorbell camera at my old place. It was impossible to review every single event recorded by the camera daily, and Gemini excels in that situation. I can broadly ask what my cameras saw and get a conversational recap.

Hey Google, what did my cameras see today?

I don't leave my indoor cameras running when I'm home, because they aren't end-to-end encrypted. If you did keep them on 24/7, you'd be able to ask more specific questions, like where you left your keys or whether you remembered to shut the window. Of all the Gemini for Home upgrades, its ability to analyze camera feeds and answer questions in natural language is my favorite.

Execute multi-step, conversational commands

I use Gemini's natural-language understanding to set nightly alarms

Gemini's natural-language understanding opens up new possibilities for smart home control. Before, I had to be extremely specific when speaking to Google Assistant. If I had multiple requests, I had to state them one at a time to ensure they ran correctly. With Gemini, I can unload all my requests at once and everything runs as it should.

I'm the kind of person that sets an alarm for the time they need to get up, and a handful of extra "safety alarms" — just in case. Gemini lets me do that with a simple, conversational request, like the one below.

Hey Google, set alarms every 15 minutes between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m.

You can get creative with these commands. I prefer setting alarms at specific times, but if you're trying to catch a sunrise, you can tell Gemini to set an alarm for a half hour before the sun comes up. It'll work without a hitch. Gemini is also great at juggling multiple tasks at once, even if the requests have nothing to do with each other.

Hey Google, set the temperature to 75 degrees and start playing "Drop dead" by Olivia Rodrigo on the receiver.

You could create a new shopping list, add an item to it, and share it with a family member, all with a single command. I can tell my Gemini-powered smart speakers and displays to adjust my Nest thermostat and start playing music on my Google Cast-equipped A/V receiver at the same time. These requests would overwhelm Assistant, but Gemini handles them just fine.

Get smarter help in the kitchen

Ask for recipes, cooking tips, and ingredient lists

I loved Google Assistant's original way of handling requests for recipes and general kitchen help. Lately, these features were either deprecated or simply broken, because my Nest Hub displays constantly returned web results instead of the simplified recipes I wanted. Google broke it, but it did fix it with Gemini.

I can fire off a list of ingredients I have in my kitchen, and Gemini will come up with a few dinner ideas for me to work with. Then, I can select one, and it'll read a recipe for me to use to cook the meal. What's even more impressive is how Gemini can interpret conversational commands like the one below:

Hey Google, I just put penne pasta in a pot of boiling water. Set a timer for how long it'll take to finish cooking.

It sounds like a basic request, but it requires Gemini to do a few things at once. First, it needs to figure out how long penne pasta takes to cook in a pot of boiling water. Then, it has to take that information and use it to set a timer for that amount of time. The fact that Gemini can do all of this without human involvement is a real time-saver, and it means I never have to read a pasta box again.

Don't be afraid to make mistakes

You don't need to get the wording perfectly anymore

Google Assistant's rigidity meant that if you misspoke or didn't speak quickly enough, a command would fail. Gemini's conversational nature completely flips the script. So, my final piece of Gemini for Home advice is to keep going when you mess up. Simply continue speaking, clarifying what you meant or correcting an error, and Gemini will understand it. Here's an example of a simple error that I fixed within a command:

Hey Google, play "Tie you down" by HAIM on the Home Speaker, actually wait, play it on the JBL receiver.

Gemini understood what I meant, even though I told it to play a song on the wrong speaker at first. Gemini's understanding of natural language is its secret weapon. Talk to it like you would a person sitting next to you, and chaces are, Gemini will get it right.

Gemini is way better than Assistant for help around the home

If you're struggling to get the hang of using Gemini for your smart home, your commands might be the problem. Google Assistant worked best with methodical, formulaic commands. Gemini is a completely different beast, as it prefers to communicate like a human. It's jarring at first, but after the learning curve, using Gemini is like Assistant with the limits removed.