Doubling up on Google Home and Nest: How and why to use multiple Nest devices

(Pocket-lint) - Google's smart AI-assistant speakers are backed by Google's almighty hunt algorithms and ecosystem, making them a large summation to immoderate astute home. If you're considering a acquisition - oregon you've been fixed a mates arsenic a acquisition - you mightiness beryllium wondering what aggregate Google Nest oregon Nest Hub devices are susceptible of.

Strategically placed astir your home, tin respective Google Home oregon Nest devices amended your life? This diagnostic explains what you tin bash with aggregate Google Home and Nest speakers and wherefore it's worthwhile. 

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Setting up aggregate Google Nest devices

Getting started with mounting up aggregate Google Home devices is simply a breeze. You tin premix and lucifer the astute location speakers too, meaning you tin opt for a Google Nest Mini successful the chamber and a full-sized Nest Audio in the surviving country oregon conscionable a multitude of Minis dotted astir the house. The prime is yours. 

Start by downloading the Google Home app for your mobile instrumentality (if you haven't already) and marque definite your Google Home oregon Nest devices are plugged successful and turned on.

Once that's done, unfastened the app and pat "get started" - you'll past beryllium capable to travel the instructions wrong the app to acceptable up the speakers and link them to your account.

If this is your archetypal clip mounting up a Google Home oregon Nest device, past we'd besides suggest taking a look astatine our tips and tricks article to marque the astir of your archetypal setup. 

Repeat the process until each the devices are attached to your relationship and up and running. Then the existent amusive begins. 

Communicating betwixt rooms with broadcast

One of the joys of the Google Home/Nest strategy is the quality to broadcast messages crossed devices successful the home. This means that you tin nonstop dependable messages from 1 of the astute speakers to each the different Google Home devices. We've covered how to acceptable up broadcasting successful a abstracted feature, but erstwhile setup is complete, it's truly arsenic elemental arsenic saying "OK Google, broadcast..." followed by the connection you privation to send. 

This functionality records a snippet of your dependable which is past replayed connected the different devices astir the house. It's worthy noting that if radical aren't expecting to perceive the connection they mightiness beryllium taken disconnected guard, truthful it's worthy ensuring you drawback their attraction first. "OK Google, broadcast perceive up everyone, it's clip for dinner" is bound to get feet dashing to the meal table. 

Controlling 1 Google Home/Nest instrumentality with another

Within the Google Home app, it is imaginable to sanction your speakers to immoderate you take to assistance you to place them. To bash this:

1. Open the Google Home app.
2. Click connected the location icon astatine the bottom
3. Scroll down to the applicable device
4. Click the cog to entree the settings
5. Then find "device name" and acceptable an due instrumentality name. 

Doing this offers much benefits than conscionable being capable to easy place each talker wrong the app. Some commands to Google tin past beryllium utilized to power 1 Google Home instrumentality from another. For example, successful the room saying "OK Google, play a relaxing playlist connected my surviving country speaker" would bash conscionable that.

You tin besides acceptable timers oregon alarms for 1 talker from another, truthful you could acceptable a 10 infinitesimal timer connected your Nest Hub Max successful the room from your Nest Audio the surviving room, oregon vice versa, for example. 

Setting up groups for multi-room audio

If you're funny successful having euphony thumping passim your house, past the bully quality is Google Home devices are susceptible of that too. All it requires is simply a fewer setup steps and you're away. 

Follow these steps to make the group:

1. Open the Google Home app
2. Click connected the location icon astatine the bottommost of the screen
3. Click the adhd awesome successful the apical near corner
4. Click "create talker group"
5. Select the Google Home speakers you privation to see past prime a logical sanction for the group 

Once that's done, you're past acceptable to formed audio to the speakers successful that group. Multi-room euphony playback supports Spotify, TuneIn Radio and YouTube Music, truthful each you request to bash is accidental "OK Google, play my enactment playlist downstairs" to get the tunes thumping (replace "party playlist" and "downstairs" with the sanction of your song/playlist and radical sanction respectively).  

Unfortunately, Google does not enactment multi-room audio for different things you mightiness like. Podcasts, for example, tin lone beryllium played connected a azygous device. Alarms and timers are besides constricted to the instrumentality they're requested on. If you acceptable a timer utilizing a Google Home successful the kitchen, it won't transportation done to the different Google Home/Nest speakers successful the lounge oregon bedroom, for example, which is simply a shame arsenic specified a functionality would beryllium useful.

Enabling multi-user enactment and household controls

With aggregate Google Home devices astir the house, it's tenable to presume that you'll person respective radical with entree to them. Google Home/Nest devices are susceptible of supporting aggregate users with a fewer elemental setup steps.

1. Open the Google Home app
2. Tap connected the location icon astatine the bottommost of the display
3. Click the adhd icon successful the apical near corner
4. Tap connected "Add idiosyncratic to home"
5. Input their email address
6. Read what's shared including each the devices and submit

We've covered how to bash this before in much depth, it fundamentally involves each idiosyncratic linking their Google relationship to the Google Home devices wrong the app connected their ain telephone oregon tablet and going done the dependable grooming exemplary truthful the astute speakers volition recognise them erstwhile they marque a request. 

Setting up aggregate idiosyncratic enactment ensures that time briefings, calendars and adjacent playlists are decently synced and each members of the household get the results they're expecting erstwhile talking to Google. This functionality doesn't necessitate aggregate Google Home devices, but it's surely worthy mounting up if you bash person a few. 

Google Home besides supports "Family Link" which allows stricter parental controls betwixt a child's Google relationship and the Google Home device. This helps with the parental absorption of a youngster's net usage with Google Home and with their devices, ensuring they enactment harmless online immoderate they're doing. It besides helps forestall accidental entree to inappropriate contented which mightiness beryllium formed done Google Home/Nest devices to a Chromecast oregon different castable device. 

Voice matching for euphony streaming

The added payment of adding aggregate users is each subordinate of the household tin usage dependable matching to petition euphony from their ain preferred euphony streaming service. Theoretically, this means radical volition nary longer ruin your Spotify playlists with their unwanted tunes. 

Follow the steps supra to invitation each subordinate to the household, past click the adhd icon successful the apical near of the homepage connected the add, and prime Music from the Add Services section. From determination you tin past prime your preferred euphony service. Get each subordinate of the location to bash the aforesaid and nexus their ain account. 

It's besides worthy getting each idiosyncratic to acceptable up dependable lucifer decently to bid Google Assistant to recognise the antithetic voices successful the home. 

To bash this:

1. Open the Google Home app
2. Click connected your illustration icon successful the apical close corner
3. Tap connected Assistant Settings
4. Scroll down to "Voice Match"
5. Follow the instructions to thatch Google Assistant your dependable and invitation others to bash the same

From determination you'll besides spot which devices are included and are susceptible of recognising your voice. Then arsenic agelong arsenic the dependable is recognised, the close relationship volition beryllium utilized for each idiosyncratic successful the home, giving a overmuch much idiosyncratic experience. 

A akin process allows you to bash the aforesaid for Netflix too, which ensures everyone's watching and listening to their favourite contented without messing up different people's profiles. 

Find retired much astir setting up dependable lucifer here. 

Reminders, calendars and more

As it's linked to your Google account, reminders, buying lists and your calendar are synced crossed each devices. If you acceptable a reminder connected 1 Google Home/Nest device, you'll get a notification airy connected the others astatine the circumstantial clip to nudge you astir it astatine the due time. 

As different example, saying "OK Google, adhd beverage to my buying list" volition bash conscionable that. That buying database tin past beryllium accessed from immoderate Google Home/Nest talker by conscionable asking "OK Google, what's connected my buying list". To marque beingness easier, you tin besides get Google to nonstop the database to your telephone by asking it to bash truthful consecutive afterwards - "OK Google, nonstop that to my phone."

The buying database is past sent to your telephone wherever it's accessible via Google Assistant oregon straight from Google's dedicated site. 

Are aggregate Google Nest/Home devices worthy it?

There's plentifulness of functionality that works crossed aggregate Google Nest/Home devices that makes having much than 1 worthwhile. 

This multi-device usage does, of course, beryllium connected however you program to usage the speakers but adjacent arsenic a basal multi-room audio strategy it's a existent treat. As with the Amazon Echo line-up, it's not indispensable to person aggregate devices successful your location to get a large astute location experience, but it does heighten it and volition marque your beingness easier successful a fig of ways. 

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Writing by Adrian Willings. Editing by Britta O'Boyle. Originally published connected 20 December 2017.