Google Home Guides

You need to factory data reset Nest Hub if you want to hand the device to other users or if you plan to sell or donate the device.

Actually, even if you just plan to retire the smart display (and throw it in the basement), you should also reset Nest Hub.

This Google Home guide explains when and why you need to reset Nest Hub (including Google Home Hub, Nest Hub, and Nest Hub 2nd Gen) and how to factory data reset (FDR) the smart display.  It also explains how to soft reset Nest Hub.

In this guide, Nest Hub refers to Google Home Hub, Google Nest Hub, and the 2nd Gen Nest Hub. The method for resetting these smart displays are identical.

The factory reset method discussed in this guide applies to Nest Hub devices only. To reset other Google Home devices, you may check this guide for Google Home, this guide for Google Home Mini, this guide for the 2nd Gen Google Home Mini (Nest Home Nini), and this guide for Nest Audio.

Why and when do you need to reset Nest Hub?

As a smart display, Nest Hub knows you and saves some of your … Read the rest

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Although Google Home can do so many things after setting up Google Home, it only has one button.  Most of the controls are achieved through voice.

The touch panel and LED colour also play an important role in using Google Home.

This guide will show you Google Home layout, functions of individual parts and how to change the base of Google Home.

Please note, Google Home layout and buttons are different from those of Google Home Mini (including Google Nest Mini), Google Home Max, Nest Audio (2nd Gen Google Home).

For owners of Google Home Mini, please check Google Home Mini layout and buttons page. Google Nest Mini layout was explained in this guide, and Nest Audio layout in this guide.

Google Home layout: front and top view

Front and top view of Google Home is shown below.

In front of Google Home, actually, there is nothing.

In the top of Google Home, you can find:

• A touch panel.
• LED indicators (LED lights).
• Two microphones

A touch panel

The entire top surface of Google Home is a touch panel. You can swipe clockwise to increase the volume and anticlockwise to reduce the volume.

You can … Read the rest

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What are Google Home promotional offers?

Google, like other companies, usually have some promotional offers when a new product is launched, or during some special seasons (e.g., holiday seasons).

For example, Chromecast owners enjoyed various Chromecast offers in the past varying from free movie rental to Play store gift card, to a few months of free Netflix in a few regions.

Even better, for Chromecast and Chromecast Audio owners, some new offers are also available for old devices. This is different from other companies.

Google Home is not an exception, I guess.

You may not be aware that there may be some Google Home promotional offers waiting for you.

Like other promotions, there are always terms and conditions associated with such offers. You need to redeem the Google Home offers in the specified period.

And, most importantly, most Google Home offers may be region-specific.

So, it is important to know how to check and redeem Google Home promotional offers.

Please note, Google Home promotional offers are tied to individual device. But some offers may allow you to redeem only once (e.g., Netflix, Google Play music or YouTube Red) even if you have multiple eligible devices.

In addition, some vendors … Read the rest

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Why you need to customize Google Home settings?

After settings up Google Home, you can start to use it immediately.

But you may not know you can customize Google Home settings to meet your needs and to get more from your Google Home.

All customization for Google Home settings can (and must) be done through Google Home app.

In this guide, I will show you how to customize Google Home settings (and Google Assistant settings), and what the options are for all Google Home devices and what are for individual Google Home devices.

What are the options to customize Google Home settings?

Google Home is actually powered by Google Assistant as explained in this page.

So, to customize Google Home settings, you have the following two options to:

• customize Google Assistant, which is tied to your Google account for all Google Home devices.
• customize Google Home (and Google Assistant) settings for individual Google Home device.

These two options to customize Google Home settings work to compliment each other, both from Google Home app.

Some Google Assistant settings and customization will affect all your Google Home devices using Google Assistant.

This means if you have more than one Google … Read the rest

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Google Home Guides community welcomes your feedback.

Of course, the fastest way to contact us is through comment box in related Google Home Guides pages if your question or problem is on using Google Home.

Another way to contact us is through our Facebook page. You can post any questions, problems or thoughts in the Facebook page.

Email reply is always slower than the other two methods mentioned above.

Please note, we are NOT affiliated to Google or any sellers of Google Home. We are NOT able to answer any warranty or sales inquiries.  You may check with Google or the seller directly.

In addition, based on our experiences, our reply cannot reach following email providers:

• Microsoft (Outlook, Hotmail).
• AOL.
• Many other free email service providers.
• Some cooperate email providers.

Please try to use Google Mail (GMail).   We do not have issues with GMail up to now.

Please try to provide details of your questions so that we can help you.

If you did not hear from us within 3 days, you may contact us through our Facebook page.… Read the rest

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You can reset Google Home Mini by holding the reset button in the bottom of Google Home Mini.

After factory data resetting of Google Home Mini, you can then set it up as a new Google Home device with Google Home App.

The way to reset Google Home Mini is different from that for Google Home.

In Google Home, you can hold the microphone button to reset Google Home. But in Google Home Mini,  microphone button was replaced with a microphone switch, and a reset button was added.

This Google Home Mini guide explains to you when you may need to reset Google Home Mini, how to reset Google Home Mini and how to check whether you reset Google Home Mini successfully.

For Google Home owners, please check this guide on how to reset it.

Please note, the 2nd gen of Google Home Mini (Google Nest Mini) does NOT have a reset button. You have to hold the touch panel to reset Google Nest Mini (Google Home Mini 2nd Gen) as explained in detail in this guide.

So, this guide only applies to the 1st Gen Google Home Mini. It is not applicable to … Read the rest

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You need to know the Nest Audio layout and understand the functions of each part if you want to use the device effectively.

This Google Home guide explains the contents in the Nest Audio box, Nest Audio layout and functions of each part to help you get started with the Nest Audio. A few questions you may have on the layout of Nest Audio were answered as well.

As explained in this page, Nest Audio is a successor of Google Home, not a competitor to Google Home.  Google acquired the Nest brand and has used it for smart home products.

Contents in Nest Audio box

In your Nest Audio box, you can find:

• Nest Audio device.
• Power adaptor with non-detachable cable.
• Documentation bundle.

Nest Audio is the main part, of course. It is far heavier than Google Home.

The power adapter and the jack are proprietary, unfortunately. So, do not lose or damage the cable and adapter. Google is not selling spare ones. There are no third-party power adapters for it yet. In fact, among all Google smart speakers, only the 1st gen Google Home Mini used a 5v/1.8A USB power adapter.

There is a … Read the rest

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Google Home is a smart and connected  speaker powered by Google Assistant, which is a new version of Google Now.

Or, you can see Google Home is a voice-activated personal assistant. You can dictate it just using your voice.

Some owners may consider Google Home as a Chromecast Audio with a built-in speaker.

The direct competitor of Google Home is Amazon Echo.  If you are an Echo user, you can just imagine Google Home is a similar device with a smarter brain.

Anyway, Google Home can be a quite different device if you look at it with different perspectives.

This page will try to explain to you what is Google Home from 3 perspectives.

Google Home as a connected speaker

On the surface, Google Home is a speaker that always connects to internet.

So, in this sense, Google Home is similar to Chromecast audio + speaker. Actually, Google Home can be used as Chromecast audio: whenever you want to cast to Chromecast audio, you can cast to Google Home.

The difference between Google Home and Chromecast audio is obvious: Chromecast audio requires a speaker. And you can use 3 types of audio cables to connect Chromecast to … Read the rest

The post What is Google Home? appeared first on Google Home Guides.

Although all Google Home devices share almost identical features and functions, Google Home Mini is different from Google Home and Google Home Max in the layout and buttons.

This means some operation and controls in Google Home Mini may be different from those in Google Home and Google Home Max.

Some how-to guides prepared for Google Home or Google Home Max maybe not applicable to Google Home Mini.

Therefore, the Google Home Mini guides section was created to host special guides for Google Home Mini.

For common features among Google Home, Google Home Mini and Google Home Max, you may check Google Home how-to guides section.

List of Google Home Mini guides

This is a live page. More Google Home Mini guides will be released regularly.

If you cannot find the guides for your Google Home Mini, you can leave your questions in the comment box below.

We will try to find a quick solution for you.

Here is the list of release and to-be-released Google Home Mini guides.

1. Google Home Mini vs Google Home

This Google Home Mini guide tries to explain the differences between Google Home and Google Home Mini to help you decide whether you … Read the rest

The post Google Home Mini Guides appeared first on Google Home Guides.

Google allows you to adjust the equalizer (EQ) of Google Home, Google Home Mini, and Google Home Max with the Google Home app.

You can boost or cut the bass and treble for your Google Home devices to get desired audio effects.

This Google Home guide explains what an equalizer is, when you may want to adjust the equalizer of Google Home, Google Home Mini (including Google Nest Mini),  and Google Home Max, and how to adjust the EQ for your Google Home devices.

What is equalizer (EQ)?

In a nutshell, an equalizer boosts or cuts specific ranges of the frequency of your audio without distorting it.

For example, when you use an equalizer to boost the bass (low-frequency range), the low-frequency audio signal becomes louder. A good equalizer will deliver the desired loudness of the bass. At the same time,  the change of the loudness keeps smooth so that the audio is not distorted (i.e., unbalanced).

When speakers or headphones leave factories, the manufacturer usually tunes the hardware so that the best audio quality can be achieved for most users.

High quality usually means balanced responses of all frequencies. Some audiophiles can tell you immediately whether the audio … Read the rest

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