It was only yesterday that Google announced the new Broadcast on Home functionality for the Google Home line of smart home devices, but those who were eager to try it out — myself included — were met only with disappointment. It wasn’t switched on yet.
This morning it’s a different story, and Broadcast on Home is now switched on. With a few simple commands, you can share a spoken message through all your Google Home devices, such as:
- “OK Google, broadcast it’s dinner time” and a dinner bell will ring on all your Home devices
- “OK Google, broadcast it’s time for school”
Better yet, if you’re leaving work and want the family to know you’re on your way, give this one a try on your phone, with the result broadcast on your Home devices at home:
- “OK Google, broadcast Chris is on his way home from work!”
This is something a lot of people with multiple Google Home devices will really enjoy, I think. Try it out and let us know your thoughts.
Wonder if this works on products that are not Home products but work with Google Assistant built in like Sony LF-S50G?
Is this feature only for google home products? I tried it out with my cast enabled speakers (LG music flow) and the assistant said there were no devices to connect to.
It’s quite interesting how it works. In our testing we found
– Typing on phone google will read the message out
– speaking to one home will broadcast the actual audio clip (your voice) to the others
– user voice auth, only works for me but not for my partner (who has her account registered on the Home but uses iPhone)
It’s very useful though a shame she can’t use it too. Hopefully they let her account use it soon and also bring it to iPhone.
I wonder why it is voice authenticated.
I reckon the voice auth is to stop kids driving the rest of the household mad with silly broadcasts.