Google Launches Audio And Video Stream Transfers For Google Home, Nest Hub Smart Devices

nest hub max
Google Assistant-powered devices like the Google Home have increased in popularity over the past few years and have grown to be competitive sales wise with the Amazon Echo family in the smart speaker realm. Today, Google is looking to further the appeal of its Google Home and Nest Hub devices with the introduction of a new feature called stream transfer.

When people purchase their first smart home device, it’s often hard to stop at just one. Google knows this, and stream transfer is meant to help users manage media content as they move throughout rooms in their home. Using just your voice, you can all upon the Google Assistant to transfer music from the Google Home in your bonus room, for example, to the Nest Hub Max in the kitchen as you trek downstairs to get dinner ready.

google stream transfer

You can do so with a simple voice command, saying “Hey Google, movie music to kitchen speaker”. The transfer of media content isn’t just limited to music either; you can also shift videos (i.e. YouTube clips) from a Nest Hub or Nest Hub Max to a Chromecast-enabled TV and vice versa using the Google Assistant.

google home

Google has also made some updates to the Google Home app, allowing you to setup speaker groups to simultaneously play the same music in multiple rooms in your home. You can also use the app to see currently available devices and transfer streams using a few taps if you don’t want to raise your voice.

According to Google, its video stream transfers currently only support YouTube, while music stream transfers are compatible with YouTube Music, Pandora, and Spotify. You can download the Google Home app for your Android device from the Google Play Store, or for iOS devices from the App Store.

Brandon Hill

Brandon Hill

Brandon received his first PC, an IBM Aptiva 310, in 1994 and hasn’t looked back since. He cut his teeth on computer building/repair working at a mom and pop computer shop as a plucky teen in the mid 90s and went on to join AnandTech as the Senior News Editor in 1999. Brandon would later help to form DailyTech where he served as Editor-in-Chief from 2008 until 2014. Brandon is a tech geek at heart, and family members always know where to turn when they need free tech support. When he isn’t writing about the tech hardware or studying up on the latest in mobile gadgets, you’ll find him browsing forums that cater to his long-running passion: automobiles.

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