Google Home could use AI to help cut down the number of useless smart home notifications — here's how

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Home Brief could reduce your smart home notification spam

Google Nest Hub Max google home smart home devices
(Image credit: Future)

If you've ever found that your smart home is getting a little irritating, with the constant ping of notifications throughout the day, you'll be happy to hear that Google seems to be working on a solution. As spotted by Android Authority, the latest Google Home app version (4.0.53.2) references something called "Home Brief."

Google has already confirmed it's working on a tool that offers summaries of camera activity and other smart home alerts. The references to Home Brief could be Google laying the groundwork to roll such a feature out to its smart home ecosystem.

It won't be free, though

Google Nest Hub (2nd Gen) review

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Code strings imply that Home Brief will be exclusive to people with a "Google Home Premium" subscription.

The downside is that this feature might not be free. Code strings imply that Home Brief will be exclusive to people with a "Google Home Premium" subscription. Which is hardly ideal for those of us who are tired of having to subscribe to everything.

References to this subscription have been spotted before, and Android Authority believes it's a rebranded version of the $10 a month Nest Aware subscription. No word on pricing, but there does appear to be references to a free trial in the code as well.

The Premium subscription also seems to unlock features like Gemini Live and Ask Home, suggesting that Google will be going big on AI features in the Home ecosystem. Which might be needed, since we already know Amazon has some major device and services news to share later today, and that will almost certainly feature a bunch of news about how AI is going to play into things.

There's no word on when Home Brief and other AI features might make it to Google Home, but the fact that Gemini will start taking over from Google Assistant tomorrow (October 1) has me hoping that it won't take too long.

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Tom Pritchard
Tom Pritchard
UK Phones Editor

Tom is the Tom's Guide's UK Phones Editor, tackling the latest smartphone news and vocally expressing his opinions about upcoming features or changes. It's long way from his days as editor of Gizmodo UK, when pretty much everything was on the table. He’s usually found trying to squeeze another giant Lego set onto the shelf, draining very large cups of coffee, or complaining about how terrible his Smart TV is.

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