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With the release of the new Nest cameras, virtually all current Nest and Google hardware is connected and unified in the Home app this year. The Google Wifi and Nest apps are being phased out, with the exception of a few use cases (speaking of which, can I set up my Nest Guard through the Google Home app soon?), And it’s clear that the business wants everything in one place. However, despite this vision and the importance of web applications lately, we still have never seen or heard anything about a PWA experiment to control your home!
Why am I mentioning this now? Well, I’ve been thinking recently about how you can already view your Nest cameras and other devices by visiting its web interface. Such an experience would have several advantages if it existed for Google’s new golden child, the Home app.
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First, you’ll be able to access it more easily from devices that don’t offer Google apps. More accessibility means more users, and with the increased focus on lowering prices and lowering the entry bar for hardware, software deserves the same approach, don’t you think? Then being able to securely log in from a borrowed device and check the security of your home would help a lot.
As a Chromebook user, I talk a lot about using the operating system’s multi-account concurrent login feature. Unfortunately, only the primary logged-in user can use the Play Store and Android apps. This means that if I log in with my company or professional persona first in order to use design apps, then I cannot switch to my personal account and check or control my lights, configure my security system, or view my cameras. To do this, I would have to log out and log back in with my personal account! Of course, I could just pick up my phone, but it’s not always there by my side. I make a point of intentionally doing everything through my Chromebook while using it so that my focus is not shared between multiple devices.
Now that Google is replacing News, Youtube Music, and many other Android apps in the Play Store on Chromebooks with PWAs, it makes sense to me that it offers a similar experience for the Google Home app. I think it’s matured enough to deserve this, and it certainly has enough users to warrant an upgrade like this. It might seem like a small complaint or observation, but for many of us, a web app would make all the difference in the world for the way we interact with our smart homes.
Not only that, but as I explained before when I put together a list of five cool features that I predict Chromebooks will someday receive, I think it makes sense that Google would add a quick settings tile for them. domestic orders on his laptops. Android 12 already has it, and it puts your smart devices at your fingertips. If Home were to become a SWA, or a system web application – a progressive web application built into the system – that would make such functionality possible! I’m actually quite surprised that I’ve never personally seen this suggested before. Let me know in the comments if you think this could be of any use to you.
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