A smart home is only really smart if it is able to turn on your reading light remotely, even without an internet connection. At least, that’s what you would think: however, practice shows otherwise. In addition to improvements in this area, Google also promises better collaboration with third-party app makers.
Although the name ‘Google Home’ suggests that the system functions within your home, it does not appear to fully deliver on that promise. The system does indeed need a connection to the outside world, namely to connect to Google’s servers. However, this is now about to change, after Google announced that it is ‘working on more offline applications’. In concrete terms, this means that you will soon be able to operate your smart home without internet. Very useful if your internet is down.
Matter
The improvements stem from a series of complaints from users who indicated to Google that they need an internet connection even for simple commands, such as turning on a lamp. This sometimes caused the system to work slowly or, if all went wrong, not at all. This is because every action went through Google and therefore did not go directly to your device, as you would expect.
That should now change, because Google wants to rely more on Matter, a universal standard for smart homes that promises to make everything work together better. The biggest advantage of this is that you don’t need internet and you will soon be able to “talk” directly to your smart lamp. This will offer advantages in terms of speed, but possibly also for your privacy, since no information is sent outside.
Also better third party support
In addition to the promise of better support for offline applications, Google also announced that competitors will soon have more options to better integrate their apps on Google Home. The reason these apps have lagged behind Google’s own Nest products to date, according to the company, was due to security and quality controls, as third-party developers must develop applications in close collaboration.
Read more news about Google and stay informed with our new app.
