Google Home gets powerful smart home automations but with a catch

Google Home users can now create personalized automations for their smart homes using Google’s recently available script editor. This feature allows users to create specific instructions for their smart home devices, such as scheduling Roomba to vacuum the house once everyone has left or setting the lights to flash when a smoke alarm is activated. Users can string multiple devices together to operate on a singular schedule, and the automations will work with Google Home and third-party devices, including many Matter-supported sensors. However, users will need a bit of programming experience since creating automations requires using Google’s script editor. Each automation requires three components: a starter, a trigger that starts the event, a condition, which are prerequisites that must be satisfied, and an action, where devices carry out commands. Google has provided users with step-by-step guides on creating scripted automation that takes about an hour, ready-to-use sample scripts, or the AI assistant, Google Bard, which writes scripts for users. While Google claims the routines are meant for the sake of convenience and not for security use cases, users can use them to expand their smart homes.