Josh Hendrickson
When Alexa finally added support for more sensors, like the Wyze sense system, we were understandably excited. Now Google Assistant looks to be playing catch-up. It already supports sensors like those from Wyze and may soon add Smoke Detectors to the mix too.
While we often recommend voice assistants for your smart home, automation is even better (both is best). While a voice assistant empowers your smart home to react to your commands, automation allows your smart home to anticipate your needs.
But, until recently, that meant using a smart home hub, which can be complicated and daunting to some users. Pulling sensors into your existing voice assistant system, like Alexa or Google Assistant, should get around that problem. Alexa already supports sensors, but Google Assistant users were left out in the cold.
Thankfully, as the folks over at Android Police noticed, Google recently added support for both sensors and Smoke detectors to its smart home, including updating documentation so manufacturers can adequately take advantage of APIs.
If a manufacturer implements those APIs, then its sensors or smoke detectors can show up in the Google Home app. We’re already seeing Wyze sensors, as seen in the screenshot above. But, we’ve yet to see smoke detectors show up, including Google’s own Nest Protect.
And unfortunately, for now, it appears to be limited functionality. You can ask the current state of a device, for instance. Hopefully, Google will improve its routines (which are not as good as Alexa’s) and create automation opportunities in the future.
via Android Police
