Google Home app on your Galaxy Watch to get Home/Away controls

In an official blog, Google announced some new features coming in for the Samsung Galaxy Watch and other Wear OS-powered smartwatches. The features clubbed under ‘Winter 2023 features for Android' bring support for manually setting Home/Away on the Google Home app on Wear OS.

With this new feature, Wear OS smartwatch owners can set Home or Away status from the top of the Google Home app. This will help in many ways, as now you can tell your smart security devices to turn on, doors to be locked, and lights to be turned off when you are out. Moreover, with expanded controls, users can easily turn on or dock their vacuums and other smart appliances straight from their watch.

Wear OS users can now also trigger Assistant Routines from their smartwatch

The expanded controls also bring the ability to change the color and temperature of light groups instead of simply turning them on and off. Additionally, Google has detailed an upcoming Google Assistant for Wear OS feature. This will let Wear OS smartwatch owners trigger Assistant Routines from their watch.

For example, “if you have a ‘commuting to work’ routine set-up that helps you navigate to work, check the weather and hear your day’s agenda, then at any time of day you can start that routine by saying “Hey Google, commuting to work.” The blog also mentions some new features, including 10 new free channels for Google TV and more Emoji keyboard combos in Gboard.