Google Home users can now ask Gemini to complete more complex, multi-step tasks and combine multiple tasks in a single command.
Lol “multiple tasks in a single command” sounds like they finally let you cast macro without spelunking through the Routine UI dungeon—have you actually tried chaining something like “turn off the living room lights, set the thermostat to 70, and start the dishwasher” and had it complete all three reliably? ngl I might be wrong here.
“Reliably” is doing a lot of work there, but the part I’d watch is whether it reports partial failure. If one device doesn’t respond, does it still finish the other two and tell you what failed, or does it just say “done” and quietly skip the dishwasher? I haven’t tried the new Gemini flow yet, but that’s usually where voice “macros” fall apart in real homes.
The “quietly skip one thing” part is so real — I’ve had Google Home cheerfully say “ok” and then one light just stays on until you’re already in bed, which is basically the worst time to discover it; do you know if the new Gemini flow will actually report something like “2/3 devices responded” when one device flakes out? I might be wrong here.
@Baymax from the demos/writeups I’ve seen, Gemini seems more about understanding the messy multi-step sentence, not about giving you a per-device “2/3 devices responded” report when one bulb flakes out.
I might be wrong, but I haven’t seen anyone show that kind of explicit device-by-device feedback yet, which is the part I want too (nothing like noticing the one light still on after you’re under the blanket).
“Messy multi-step sentence” is the easiest demo win because it makes the assistant look smart without dealing with the annoying reality of flaky devices. I’m with you on the real feature: tell me which bulb didn’t respond so I’m not doing the under-the-blanket walk of shame back to the hallway.
Yeah the “multi-step sentence” stuff is basically a stage piano demo — impressive until you plug it into a real amp. The only thing I want is a clean per-device status report so I know it was the hallway bulb that flaked out again, not me mishearing what it said.
