Google Home App Gets Detailed Release Notes For Each Update

The Google Home app is bucking the trend of how most first-party products lack meaningful update release notes.

Earlier this year, Google Nest Help posted a “Google Home app release notes” support article. However, the entries were quite generic: “Bug fixes and improvements.”

In recent days, Google has retroactively updated the three entries for 2025 with rich release notes that include new Features and a list of Bug Fixes. The release notes for the latest 3.30 version from March 4 is below:

3.30 | March 4, 2025

Features

• More consistent setup flows: Under-the-hood improvements to how you set up new devices.

Bug Fixes

• App fails after deleting home: Resolved an issue where the Google Home app would fail during the “Finalizing Network” step after deleting and setting up a new home.
• Notification toggle missing in Smoke & CO device settings: Addressed an issue where the notification toggle option was missing under Sound Check in Smoke & CO device settings.
• Multiple notifications for alarm silenced: Resolved an issue where multiple notifications for Alarm silenced were triggered for Smoke & CO Heads-Up or Emergency Alarm when silenced.
• “Couldn’t connect”/”Unable to save settings” error: Fixed an error where “Couldn’t connect” or “Unable to save settings” was observed when toggling On/Off Emergency shutoff options.
• Activity tab showing incorrect device list: Corrected an issue where the Activity tab was showing an incorrect device list.
• “Allow Monthly Sound Check” toggle not enabling: Fixed a bug where the “Allow Monthly Sound Check” toggle button under “Sound Check” in Smoke & CO settings was not enabling properly.

This is great on Google’s part and will hopefully expand to other applications. The other 2025 updates are below:

3.29 | February 11, 2025

Features

• Camera quick seek: Quickly navigate through your camera footage with new 10-second forward and backward seek buttons in the camera controller.
• Read and manage third-party automations [Android]: Manage automations from third-party apps directly within the Google Home app. View automation details and run them with ease.

Bug Fixes

• Adding Wifi Point to your Wi-Fi network: Fixed an issue where the app would get stuck while adding a Wifi Point to your network.
• Settings tile tap: Addressed an issue where tapping on a settings tile was not functioning.
• CO display on Nest Protect device tile [Public Preview]: Fixed an issue where carbon monoxide (CO) was incorrectly displayed on the Nest Protect device tile during Heads-up/Emergency events.
• UI issue in Nest Protect settings [Public Preview]: Resolved UI issues related to Light ring brightness, Pathlight, and Preferred time options under Nest Protect settings.

3.28 | January 7, 2025

Features

• Dynamic theme [Public Preview – Android]: Experience a more vibrant and personalized Google Home app with dynamic colors on Android, aligning with your device’s theme and enhancing visual harmony.
• Nest Protect support [Public Preview – iOS]: Public Preview users can now migrate Nest Protect from the Nest App to the Home App on iOS.

Bug Fixes

• Lock/Unlock error: Resolved an issue where an error message appeared when trying to lock or unlock devices from the controller on iOS.
• Household Routines tap to run: Fixed a bug where Household Routines were not running when tapped from the Favorites tab on Android devices.
• Nest Hub Max device migration improved: Addressed an issue where multiple Nest Hub Max devices were not appearing for selection during migration, ensuring smoother transfers.
• Delete button size: Fixed an issue where the delete button appeared larger than intended on the Access Summary Page for household members on Android.
• Device setup flow connection issue: Fixed a “Connection failed” error during the device setup flow for speaker and display devices on Android.
• Lock Access and Vacation modes: Fixed an issue where Access and Vacation mode tiles were not visible on the controller for locks.

Google has also posted release notes for the last few months of 2024:

3.27 | December 3, 2024

Features

• Limited Access members [Public Preview]: Invite family, friends, roommates to your home at the right access level, and customize access by granting the ability to view activity or manage settings and automations.
• Family Wifi revamp: We’ve updated the Family Wifi screens based on the latest design guidelines to improve overall experience.
• Nest Protect support [Public Preview – iOS]: Migrate Nest Protect from the Nest App to the Google Home app, with support for third-party smart smoke/CO alarms.
• Improved locks experience [Public Preview – Android]: Expanding smart lock features in the Google Home app, including battery status, privacy mode, and one-touch locking.
• Automations: Help me create [Public Preview – Android]: Nest Aware subscribers can now get help creating automations using Gemini and receive suggestions based on their home.

Bug Fixes

• Smoke/CO loading when opening app: Resolved an issue causing infinite loading spinners when opening the app on Android.
• Smoke/CO loading during account change: Fixed an issue causing infinite loading upon account change on Android.
• Presence sensing UI [Public Preview]: Fixed an issue where the presence sensing UI should show friendly names for Nest Protects on Android.

3.26 | November 12, 2024

Features

• Favorites widget [iOS]: Quick access to Favorites and home controls on iOS with the Google Home widget.
• Renew Home utility account linking: Enables utility account linking for Renew Home setup flow, allowing users to link their home utility accounts more easily.
• Camera History Search with AI Descriptions [Public Preview]: Improve the video understanding capability of Nest Cameras using Gemini and advanced models to enable more powerful search using natural language queries.
• Nest Hub Max device transfer [Public Preview]: Public Preview users can now transfer their Nest Hub Max cameras from the Nest app to the Google Home app.
• Read and manage third-party automations for Android: Automations tab now displays all automations created by third-party apps along with the name of the app which created the automation.

Bug Fixes

• Nest Hub Max camera pairing issue: Fixed an issue where the “Connecting to Nest Hub Max” screen kept loading during pairing in India.

3.25 | October 22, 2024

Features

• Improved camera live streaming: We’ve made under-the-hood improvements to how you view camera live streams from your Google Home devices to enhance the experience for different internet speeds.

Bug Fixes

• App stability: We’ve fixed several issues that could cause the app to crash unexpectedly.
• Favorites setup: Fixed an issue where devices were not correctly selected during the setup flow for adding Favorites.
• Device setup: Improved the reliability of device ID mapping during device setup.
• Cameras: Fixed an issue where the “Live” text was being cut off in the camera controller screen, and another where the close button was not always visible in the camera history screen.

3.24 | October 1, 2024

Features

• Favorites widget [Android]: Quick access to Favorites and home controls with the Favorites widget.
• Improved device setup flows: Simplified device setup by directing users to the correct flow if they choose the wrong option when setting up Nest devices.
• Home Controls screen saver: Turn your Android device into a smart home controller when docked and charging with the Home Controls screen saver.
• Favorites widget [Public Preview – iOS]: Quick access to Favorites and home controls on iOS with the Favorites widget.

Bug Fixes

• Favorites onboarding: Devices are now correctly selected on the Favorites onboarding page for homes with five or fewer devices.
• Landscape mode headings: Corrected display issues with screen headings in landscape mode during device setup.
• Back button navigation: Fixed an issue where the back button in the home creation flow did not navigate to the previous page.
• Climate tab rendering: Resolved an issue where the Climate tab was rendering incorrectly on fold devices.
• White bar appearance: Fixed an issue where a white bar appeared when re-editing the name of a home.

3.23 | September 10, 2024

Bug Fixes

• Temperature schedules: Fixed a bug that prevented setting some schedules to the minimum or maximum temperature.
• Landscape headings: Fixed an issue where some screen headings weren’t displayed during setup of displays and speakers in landscape mode.
• Routine runs during reordering: Fixed a bug that caused routines to run unexpectedly when reordering Favorites.
• Fan controls: Fixed an issue where “Run fan + ventilation” was displayed instead of “Run fan.”

3.22 | August 20, 2024

Features

• Google TV Streamer support: Added setup support for Google TV Streamer. We’ve streamlined the setup process, reducing network-related errors for a more reliable experience.
• Garage door detection: Now generally available, your wired Nest Cameras can detect your garage door’s open/close state. Get notifications if you leave it open or if it opens unexpectedly, adding another layer of home security and convenience.

Bug Fixes

• Add buttons not visible: Fixed an issue where the “+ Add” and “+” buttons were not visible when scrolling on the “Settings” tab.
• “Learn More” link broken: Resolved a problem where the “Learn more” link was non-functional in the “Choose which devices will help with presence sensing” screen.

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