Google Assistant voice commands for your smart home work best when your devices are in groups (Google calls these groups «rooms»). Skipping this step during setup makes it harder to use your devices. Here’s how to create rooms and add devices to them.
Rooms make voice commands easier
With your room-related smarthome devices, Google will let you achieve more in a few words. Instead of saying «turn off living room lights 1, turn off living room lights 2, turn off living room lights 3», etc., name the room «Living Room» and then say «turn off living room lights» to turn everything off. straightaway
Even better, if the Google Home you’re talking to is physically in the same location as your smart lights, then you can add it to the same group as the lights. Then all you need to say is «turn off the lights» — Google Assistant will understand the connection and turn off the correct lights.
How to add new devices to rooms
To add a device to a room, open Google Assistant and click the Add button.
Click Set Up Device.
Tap «New Device» for any Google Home or Chrome Cast device, or tap «Is anything already set up?» For external devices such as Philips Hue or Wink. For this example, we use the latter option.
In the Manage Accounts dialog, highlight the service you want to add or click on the magnifying glass to enter a name and search for it, in this example we will enter Magic Home.
Click on the service, then provide account details. If this process hangs, try clicking on the three dots in the top right corner and open it in a browser instead.
Click on any found device, then click «Add to Room».
Click on the name of the relevant room and then click Next. Scroll down if necessary, where you will see a «Custom Room» option that allows you to create a name.
You have done everything. Your device will now be associated with the room.
How to add existing devices to rooms
Open the Google Assistant app and scroll down to find the list of devices not in the rooms. Click on any device to add it to the room.
Click on «Add to Room» at the bottom of the screen.
Choose the right place for your home. You will probably only have one home, so click it and then click the Next button.
Then click Move Device.
If you have multiple accounts associated with your «home» (for families, etc.), they will all have access to the device. If you ever move the device to a new home, all members will lose this access. Google is trying to clarify this with the message «Affects access for home users». This is something to keep in mind in a family setting.
Click on the room you want to link the device to and then click Next.
If you don’t see the room label you like, scroll to the bottom of the list. Click Custom Room, select the shortcut you like, and then click Next.
If you have a Google Home device, adding it to the same room will make it easier for you to control these lights. If the Google homepage is linked to the same room as the smart lights, you can say «Hey Google, turn on the lights» to turn them on. This, of course, only makes sense if the light and the Google home are physically in the same room.
Grouping your devices into rooms means you can control those rooms by accessing them. If you’ve grouped devices in a room labeled «bedroom,» you can say «Hey Google, turn off the bedroom» or «turn off the lights in the bedroom,» even if Google Home is located elsewhere in the house.
Keeping your devices grouped by room will not only help you better organize the Google Assistant app, it will also make it easier to work with those devices. If there are three lights in the same room, it’s much easier to say «turn off the living room» than to tell them to turn off each light in turn.
