Google adding dark mode, new touch controls to Assistant smart displays

Google Nest Hub, and other Assistant-powered smart displays are getting a ton of new features and visual updates.

Google Nest Hub smart display (Google)

Google Assistant-powered smart displays are getting a major update that brings visual changes and new features as well. The new update will be available to Google Nest Hub Max and third-party smart displays. Google has announced a total of 10 new changes to smart displays.

Google will now display a new “Your Morning” page featuring the morning news, weather, reminders and more. The page will update throughout the day and change when it's afternoon or evening. The media page will now suggest videos or shows, and also from streaming platforms like Disney+, Netflix, YouTube TV and Spotify. Google is also adding a “Home control” page so users can control other connected devices.

Smart displays currently have support for video calls through Google Meet and Duo. Speaking of which, Google Meet on the Nest Hub Max will now auto-frame the camera to focus on you. Google will also add support for Zoom later this year. Google is also adding multi-account support on smart displays. Users can now add personal and work accounts, and set reminders for both on smart displays.

Another visual change coming to smart displays is the dark theme. Users can switch to dark mode on their smart displays, and also keep it automatic so it will adjust based on the ambient light or when it's night and day. For a better bedtime routine, users can play relaxing sounds like rainfall or the sound of crickets from the “Your evening” page. Users can set a sleep timer for the sound to fade out or play it all night. 

Similarly, Google will add a new sunrise alarm for smart displays to increase the brightness gradually 30 minutes before the alarm goes off. Google will also let users choose different alarms for different days, and you can just say “stop” instead of “Hey Google” to turn off the alarm.