At home with Gemini Google Home is getting deeper Gemini integration and a new widget Smart homes can be dumb, but maybe Gemini can help. Ryan Whitwam – May 23, 2025 2:53 pm | 0 Credit: Google Credit: Google Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more As Google moves the last remaining Nest devices into the Home app, it's also looking at ways to make this smart home hub easier to use. Naturally, Google is doing that by ramping up Gemini integration. The company has announced new automation capabilities with generative AI, as well as better support for third-party devices via the Home API. Google AI will also plug into a new Android widget that can keep you updated on what the smart parts of your home are up to. The Google Home app is where you interact with all of Google's smart home gadgets, like cameras, thermostats, and smoke detectors—some of which have been discontinued, but that's another story. It also accommodates smart home devices from other companies, which can make managing a mixed setup feasible if not exactly intuitive. A dash of AI might actually help here. Google began testing Gemini integrations in Home last year, and now it's opening that up to third-party devices via the Home API. Google has worked with a few partners on API integrations before general availability. The previously announced First Alert smoke/carbon monoxide detector and Yale smart lock that are replacing Google's Nest devices are among the first, along with Cync lighting, Motorola Tags, and iRobot vacuums. Google has been testing Gemini integrations in the Labs program, allowing users to create automations by telling Gemini what they want to do. For example, getting reminders about package deliveries or detecting unwanted animals in a garden. Gemini can theoretically create the setup for you, so you don't have to tap through multiple menus. With Gemini support in the automation API, more smart home devices will be visible to Gemini when it makes recommendations. Google also says the Gemini expansion will add more triggers based on dates and weather conditions. The complexity of smart home setups can make it hard to parse exactly what's going on. Google Home's favorites page helps, but a new widget could make it even easier. The Home Summary Widget will provide live insights on what's happening in your home. For example, it could remind you there's a package outside or that you left the lights on. The new widget will keep you abreast of what is happening around the house. Credit: Google The new widget will keep you abreast of what is happening around the house. Credit: Google Google says it's testing the widget on a small number of Pixel phones, but we expect it to be available more widely in the Labs program later. As for a general rollout, Google isn't making any promises right now. Developers interested in trying the new APIs are advised to sign up for the smart home developer newsletter. That will keep you in the loop as the early access program begins later this year. Ryan Whitwam Senior Technology Reporter Ryan Whitwam Senior Technology Reporter Ryan Whitwam is a senior technology reporter at Ars Technica, covering the ways Google, AI, and mobile technology continue to change the world. Over his 20-year career, he's written for Android Police, ExtremeTech, Wirecutter, NY Times, and more. He has reviewed more phones than most people will ever own. You can follow him on Bluesky, where you will see photos of his dozens of mechanical keyboards. 0 Comments

TechHive Editors Choice At a glanceExpert's Rating Pros Bright, high-quality lighting (in white or in color) You can daisy-chain up to 10 light bars Easy to install and configure Excellent app Cons You lose all the great features of the GE Cync app if you connect the light bars via Matter Connecting via Matter is the only way to add the light bars to Apple Home Onboard Wi-Fi adapter is 2.4GHz only Our Verdict These beautiful undercabinet light bars deliver both excellent task lighting and fabulous lighting scenes, but they’re better suited to smart homes that revolve around Alexa or Google Home, because using Matter to connect them to Apple Home entails giving up the excellent GE Cync app and all the control features it has to offer. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today I’m not ready to remodel my (very) small galley kitchen, but my family desperately needed more space for storing some of the bowls, cups, and glasses we use every day. The least expensive solution I could think of was to install a floating shelf on the only empty wall. Problem solved, but also, problem created: The 10-inch-deep shelf cast an objectional shadow on the counter below. Given the small amount of counter space in our kitchen, we utilize every square inch for food preparation. I needed those shadows to be gone. Enter the GE Cync Reveal Smart LED Undercabinet Bar Light. These under-cabinet lights can be hardwired to your home’s electrical system or plugged into a standard AC outlet. And if your cabinets don’t go all the way to the ceiling, you could also mount them on top to cast light up the wall and onto the ceiling. The GE Cync undercabinet light bar can produce 34 “light shows” that involve not just colors but also animations. The lights come in white enclosures rated for installation in damp locations. They measure 4.8 inches deep, 1.8 inches thick, and are available in three widths: 12-, 18-, or 24 inches. You can daisy-chain up to 10 of them. I went the plug-in route and mounted two of the 18-inch models under my floating shelf. Voilà! No more shadows. An 18-inch GE Cync Reveal Smart LED Undercabinet Bar Light, unboxed.Michael Brown/Foundry The lights are exceedingly easy to physically install, thanks to captive self-tapping screws that you can drill into the bottom of your cabinet or shelf with just a screwdriver. This neatly avoids the need to pre-drill pilot holes that inevitably end up being just a bit off when you go to screw in the light itself. As I’ve already mentioned, you can wire the lights to your home’s electrical system or use the provided cable with a 3-prong plug at one end to power the lights. If you go the plug-in route, the cord emerges from the bottom of the plug at a rightward angle, allowing you to plug it into either the top or bottom of a duplex outlet, even if the outlet is occupied. Pro tip: Using a cable chase to hide the excess electrical cord looks a lot better than just letting it dangle. The cleverly angled plug can fit in either the top or bottom of a duplex outlet, even if the other socket is occupied.Michael Brown/Foundry Each bar has one button for toggling the lights on and off (or you can dim the LEDs by holding this button down) and a second one for changing the color or color temperature. Special stub cables are provided for daisy-chaining the lights—again, up to 10—after which either set of buttons will control both lights. Specifications Once the lights are set up, you can control them individually or configure multiples to operate in sync. They can be controlled via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi (2.4GHz networks only), with the latter method being the best approach to take if you want to use Alexa or Google Assistant voice commands to control them. The lights are also Apple Home compatible, but only via Matter over Wi-Fi (there’s no Thread support), and adding them to your Wi-Fi network in that fashion prevents you from using the Cync app to program and control the lights. You can make many—but certainly not all—settings changes and schedules using the Apple Home app, but you won’t have full control over them if you go that route. You also won’t be able to access any of the lighting effects that the GE app offers. My home revolves mostly around Alexa, so I didn’t enroll the lights in Matter. You daisy-chain up to 10 of the GE Cync Reveal light bars using the provided stub cables.Michael Brown/Foundry The LED light bars can produce colored light from a palette of 16 million colors, or you can choose a tunable white light (ranging from a very warm 2,000 Kelvin to a cool 7,000K). You can also set them to use GE’s own Reveal HD+ setting, which promises white light with higher contrast. I like it. The 18-inch light bar tested here produces up to 1,150 lumens of white light at a color temperature of 3,000K, but note that using the Reveal setting reduces the bar’s maximum brightness to 900 lumens. The 12-inch light bar delivers up to 750 lumens (630 with Reveal), while the 24-inch model delivers 1,500 lumens (1,200 with Reveal). Light shows The GE Sync Reveal app offers a host of lighting options in both color and various white color temperatures, depending on your needs.Michael Brown/Foundry The Cync app is so rich with features that you’ll want to think twice about going the Matter and/or Apple HomeKit route that will deny you access to it. Or you might decide that these lights are just not the right solution for your home if you’re striving for a homogenous smart home. In any event, going far beyond the usual color wheel for picking colors from a palette of 16 million shades, you can also choose from nine white color temperature presets: Sunlight, Early Morning, Candle Light, etc. There are also 34 “light shows” that involve not just colors but also animations. The app divides these between 10 presets and 24 other categories under the heading Explore. Each preset is labeled with an evocative name, such as Candle, Rainbow, Fireworks, and Aurora. The button on the left toggles the lightbar on and off, or you can hold it down to dim and brighten. The button on the right steps through light colors and white color temperatures.Michael Brown/Foundry Tapping a preset changes the lightbars’ behavior immediately, while the 24 Explore choices must be previewed before they can be sent to the lightbars. If that isn’t enough options for you, you can create custom light shows based on nine effect types: Wave, Flicker, Fill, Pop, Alternating, Erratic, Rhythm, Pulse, and Static. Each custom light show has adjustable parameters for color palette (with an option for random changes), brightness, fade and color duration (each on a scale of 0.1 to 5 seconds). These custom shows can be saved with names and called up later or scheduled. Lighting schedules It wouldn’t be a smart light if you couldn’t schedule it to turn on and off, so of course you can use the Routines section of the app to program the lights to turn on and off, either at defined times or on a sunrise/sunset (or sunset/sunrise) schedule (with padding before or after those events). This review is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best smart lighting. The scheduling section of the app also lets you create lighting scenes, which are curiously distinct from the light shows I’ve already mentioned. Scenes give you the option of choosing a photo—or uploading one of your own—that will influence the illumination the light bars produce. Honestly, this feature seems like an afterthought, and it’s not one that I see myself using on a regular basis. The GE Cync Reveal Smart LED Undercabinet Bar Light proved to be a problem solver in my kitchen.Michael Brown/Foundry Should you buy GE Cync Reveal Smart LED Undercabinet Bar Lights? Unless you’re set on controlling everything with Matter and/or the Apple Home—or you don’t mind giving up the effects available in the app—these GE Cync Reveal Smart LED Undercabinet Bar Lights are a fabulous solution for smart task lighting in a kitchen or other workspace that has cabinets or shelves mounted over counters. The light bars are very easy to install and configure in the app, which offers a seemingly endless number of lighting colors, routines, and options. They produce high-quality task lighting when you’re cooking, working, or crafting; and their lighting scenes are great for entertaining or just relaxing.