Google Home Gets Bluetooth Speaker Streaming Support

Google has added Bluetooth speaker support to Google Home, opening a new door for media streaming. Users have been heavily requesting this feature since the Google Home Mini's launch, and Google says it added it due to that feedback. With the new support, Home owners can use voice commands to stream their favorite song on a connected Bluetooth speaker.

Starting today, any Google Home device can be connected to Bluetooth speakers throughout a home (or office, or wherever the device is used). You can, for example, tell Google Home to play your favorite song to hear it in the bedroom, listen to a podcast in the kitchen, and similar things.

Bluetooth pairing is performed within the Google Home app via the device settings menu. The app guides the speaker through the pairing process, after which point users will control the audio using natural commands: "Hey Google, turn up the volume" for example.

You don't have to state the speaker's name specifically; the audio will play on it automatically as long as the speaker is paired. The support extends to multi-room audio experiences, as well. To get that, users need to add multiple speakers to a group within the mobile app.

By setting up multi-room audio, users can, for example, have evening jazz play throughout the house so that they can listen to it during dinner in the dining room and evening activities in the family room. Of course, the voice command will need to be made in the room containing the Google Home device.

SOURCE: Google Blog