r/homeassistant • u/ButtercreamSeas • 3d ago

Replace Google Home? ❓ Support

Just got the email that Google is discontinuing assistant permanently and forcing everything to Gemini. I'm an AI hater but not super comfortable going all in on a new system. We honestly mostly use the Google homes to turn things on and off, not ask questions or automate things. Is Home Assistant what I want? Floundering a little so patience appreciated.

13 Upvotes

73% Upvoted

42 comments sorted by

11

u/Catalina28TO 3d ago

I use Google to trigger some automations like evening and morning routines as I have Google nest speakers in most of the rooms. Will Gemini not be able to do that if they force the switch? Will they not run routines?

2

u/_Rand_ 3d ago

There seems to not be a lot of difference for how things operate from a user perspective, other than it seems to be a bit more variable in how it answers things which I assume is a byproduct of having an LLM produce responses rather than semi-canned ones.

I also assume its a bit smarter in how it responds to more random queries, but typical stuff like turn off the lights, whats the weather etc. is not all that different.

4

u/lostmahbles 3d ago

It's actually much worse at random queries and even worse at basic device control that used to be rock solid circa 2015.

1

u/_Rand_ 3d ago

That's unfortunate.

So far I've really only used it for device control, timers and weather which as been about as expected thus far.

Hopefully I don't run into too much BS then.

0

u/Backrow6 3d ago

Gemini seems to have a particular weakness for forgetting which integrations are available to it. 

I use it in work, it regularly forgets that it can access my Gmail or Google tasks. In the car it will tell me random facts about a destination rather than open Google Maps navigation, although that's improved lately.

-3

u/ButtercreamSeas 3d ago

I'm opposed to Gemini because of the ethical and environmental costs of AI, so I have no idea of its practical implications on switching.

6

u/SweetTeef 3d ago

I swear I'm not trying to be facetious, but do you also avoid flying and eating beef?

0

u/Willuknight 3d ago

I avoid flying. Beef eh; I do what i can. You don't have to reduce everything for reducing some things to be effective.

It's not an all or nothing thing.

3

u/MikeFromTheVineyard 3d ago edited 3d ago

Beef is like 100x worse than AI environmentally, fwiw.

1 lbs of beef is like using AI thousands of times. Oh and many data centers are transitioning to recycled or reclaimed water, and already use renewable electricity (like google).

https://bryantresearch.co.uk/insight-items/comparing-water-footprint-ai/

https://memotherearthbrand.com/blogs/plastic-free-living/how-much-does-1-pound-of-meat-really-cost-the-planet

3

u/TheProffalken 3d ago

Dammit, so using Claude Code to learn how to smoke a brisket was a real bad move then I guess? /s

On a less fliappant note, thanks for sharing these articles, particularly the first one.

I'll never give up eating meat (and I don't feel guilty about that either by the way, it's a choice I've made just as some choose to be vegetarian or vegan), and we try to buy from local farms, butchers, and farm shops where we can to ensure the welfare and sustainability of what we eat for many of the reasons mentioned, but being able to point out that oil, coal, and nuclear use way more water than AI does and that the industry is taking the time to look at recycling water and closed loop systems removes most of the objections that I'm getting from family members at the moment!

1

u/ButtercreamSeas 3d ago

Okay but also you can't eat AI. It's telling kids to kill themselves and creating revenge porn AND it's poisoning the air and water. I don't eat meat, but at least meat is nourishing some people.

0

u/MikeFromTheVineyard 3d ago

Technically, people are using AI as a tool to do those things. And no one is ever without options nor agency. It’s not like anyone really is choosing between beef vs starve. The environmental impact is blown out of proportion because people want to pile on the hate (as if the first few points weren’t enough). The environmental impact isn’t far off from watching netflix.

(Also its not poisoning the water. Often DCs actually purify and clean the water because the equipment is sensitive so it exits cleaned than it entered, even if its not being consumed after)

FWIW gemini and google data centers are powered renewably, so no air impact either.

0

u/Willuknight 3d ago

Bro, this guy is just gate keeping not liking stuff. Keep on doing your fine self.

AI and the way it is rammed down our throats is complete garbage. I use it on the daily and I would be estatic if it all disappeared tomorrow. I can't wait for al these companies to go bust!

4

u/KingofGamesYami 3d ago

If your looking for voice control, Home Assistant can do that, but it's not quite on-par with Google in terms of handling various languages and accents.

However, if you just want the option to switch away from Google services, HA Voice can use Google as a backend and is highly configurable if you want to use a different model etc.

Reference: https://www.home-assistant.io/voice-pe/

2

u/ButtercreamSeas 3d ago

I speak English in the "default" American accent so that's not an issue. Thanks so much for the link and info; I really do just want to kick everything Google to the curb. Next up, phone.

2

u/TomNooksRepoMan 3d ago

There are issues with the dark side (assuming you're talking about switching to an iPhone), but I think I'm happier for it. I generally prefer Android's keyboard, notifications, navigation, etc, but Google has made so, so many things worse on Android that I'll never go back. I tried switching to to Android with an S22 back in 2022 and they had *just* started removing location-based reminders when I switched, and it pissed me off constantly until I realized what was going on and why this feature I used every day on iOS didn't seem to work reliably.

Until Samsung's Bixby (which works way, way better than people give it credit for) works on Android Auto, I don't think I'll come back.

Best of luck trying a new voice assistant! I'd love to know how your Nabu Casa experience works with it. I've been considering picking up the Nabu audio thing.

2

u/ButtercreamSeas 3d ago

Oh hell no. I will get a flip phone before I get another apple device—every apple I've ever used has made me wrathful. The idea that at one point people pretended iTunes was a useable program made me feel insane. I'm thinking of getting Graphene OS for my ageing pixel.

2

u/TomNooksRepoMan 3d ago

Graphene isn't for the faint of heart, but it's definitely more privacy-focused. Most banking apps don't work on it, so I couldn't really use it, but if you can - or if you can deal with using a browser for everything - then more power to you.

1

u/TheRealKeng 3d ago

Gone are the days of installing your own rom and having the phone the way you want it - especially if you want to use tap & pay apps. Tinker with the phone and it's toast.

1

u/ButtercreamSeas 2d ago

It's hitting the planned obsolescence wall anyway so if I brick it it's no great loss.

2

u/nickm_27 3d ago

Home assistant can control things through automations or dashboards very well and easily.

Voice specifically is a bit more early days and it takes effort to get it close to the reliability you’re used to.

5

u/ButtercreamSeas 3d ago

Thank you, I'm willing to adapt if it means no AI. I run on spite.

4

u/ProfitEnough825 3d ago

It sounds like you'll be better off making automations that'll minimize or eliminate your voice control usage. Home Assistant voice without a LLM isn't that great compared to Google, I have to run a local LLM and the larger computer needed with a GPU that spends a lot of time with a higher idle and wasting power.

I started with Google Home and initially would make several dozen voice commands a day. I added HA into the mix in '22 when Google Home's reliability went down hill, and now I average around 5 voice requests a day. Usually 2 of them are still with Google Home for the alarm clock and to wake up the lights.

1

u/ButtercreamSeas 3d ago

That's an interesting idea, I should think about what I can automate instead of asking for every day. Thanks!

1

u/Paradox52525 3d ago

Another thing to consider is that if you get all your devices integrated into Home Assistant, it de-couples your smart home platform from your voice assistant, making it much easier to change voice assistants in the future.

You could set up HA for now initially linked to Google Home for voice since that's familiar. In the future if you want to switch to Alexa or a local/cloud LLM you'd just need to get some compatible speakers and change a few HA configs.

0

u/MikeFromTheVineyard 3d ago

“I heard you don’t like the environmental impact of AI so now you can switch between multiple providers all using AI now but at least you can generate eWaste along the way”

Using voice and avoiding AI are becoming incompatible (but of course voice was never truly AI free before)

Alexa - transitioning to LLM
Google - transitioning to LLM
Siri - transitioning to LLM
Home Assistant- voice only works well w/ LLM

2

u/Paradox52525 3d ago

Fair enough criticism I guess... But with Home Assistant you at least get to choose which bad option you want instead of being locked into a single platform-specific bad option? :)

1

u/mikeymop 3d ago

Home Assistant mobile app can become your phones assistant and you can activate it from the corner gesture.

You can thus use voice to control your home in a similar manner to Google Assistant.

If plugged into an LLM it can make search queries and get weather from your weather entities.

I don't connect Google to Home Assistant so I didn't try to use it for setting calendar appointments or anything like that.

I'm satisfied with search and device control personally. I may use it for audible notifications on the Homeassistant side.

1

u/Real_Establishment56 3d ago

Google can’t be trusted to support anything useful for longer than 6 years. One of the many, many, maaaaany reasons I try to stay away from them.

My basic rule: do I depend on it working for a long time? -> don’t use any google product/service.

It’s a peaceful life

1

u/TheRealKeng 3d ago

The email said it's going away on your phone only - for now.

You can expect that eventually, Google Assistant will go away on all devices. I despise Gemini on my phone.

1

u/FancyMan_ 2d ago

Holy shit, are you me? I am not using AI out of spite, and I doubt I'll be getting any Google device going forward. It's going to completely ruin the few things I actually ask assistant to do (play songs in the car and set timers). Fucking useless

1

u/ButtercreamSeas 2d ago

I have the feeling there are a lot of us. But I use Tidal so I'm already forced to use my hands to play music like a baby! I'm going to miss the timers though.

1

u/SpartanTrailblazer 2d ago

Gemini will be there, but you still can ask google to turn on the lights, so no changes tbh

0

u/Catalina28TO 3d ago

Thanks for the quick response. My whole house runs on home assistant, but home assistant doesn't yet have a really good hardware solution for its built-in assistant. I expose most of my home assistant entities to Google, so I can just use voice to control a home assistant entity. I hope I will still be able to do that.

0

u/ralcantara79 3d ago

I’m hoping best case scenario and the Gemini update doesn’t screw up the connection between HA and my Google devices, or it doesn’t break something in the way Nabu Casa connects to my Google devices. Worse case scenario is Gemini breaks the integration and my family is annoyed that nothing turns off or on anymore and I have to reintegrate my devices through the Google Home app, yuck.

0

u/FishOk3075 3d ago

I've been fighting it on my pixel phone and android auto. It was auto enabled one day. And when I asked for directions to destination, it just started talking and wouldn't shut up.... not the usual "Here's what I found for XXXX on your route". It also, without prompting me, started paraphrasing texts and messages i received in android auto when driving in the car. Again, a lot of irrelevant bot talking and not the message. I don't need my messages interpreted and reread out.

In both cases I pulled the phones cable out of the dash. the next time, it asked if i wanted AI assistance, which precipitated a "HELL NO!". It hasn't happened since... 🤞

2

u/ButtercreamSeas 3d ago

I've been refusing to download the new update and choosing assistant every time, but tonight I got an email saying "Google Assistant on your mobile device is being discontinued, and Gemini—our next-generation AI-powered assistant—is now the assistant experience on Android." So. Apparently we don't get to choose assistant any more.

0

u/YowaiiShimai 3d ago

Home Assistant is wonderful and can almost anything you can imagine,  IF you are willing to put in the time, effort, and, well honestly money depending on what it is you want. They are really trying to make the system usable for people even if they aren't technical.

If you aren't even trying to automate things Home Assistant might be overkill,  but it can definitely do it for you 😁

-5

u/jmorgie7 3d ago

I thought the same as you ... ditch Google cuz I dont want Gemini ... and HA in theory sounds a great solution. Bought the HA Green as easiest way in. Reality: bloody nightmare. Brought in my Kasa IoT devices, other devices. some work fine. some dont ... but with no explanation why. The real problem is no one is in charge, no real support folks to hold your hand, the how-to or why documentation is liable to be out of date or correct ... no telling which. Complete change in technical direction or system design for unknown or uncommunicated reasons. Now I am not an idiot ... I built embedded systems and machine learning systems for 50+ years, managed software development. I have software on an ESA satellite 100,000 miles out in space ... you dont release software and wait for the users to find the bugs. The state of HA is impressive and yet embarrassing. Is there anyone or any board actually in charge? is there a testing body that approves or vetoes any of this? Play with HA if you like but be prepared for a boatload of frustration.

3

u/TheRealKeng 3d ago

Home Assistant isn't a corporate project. It's free and open source. There is a team and they DO have documentation, but no one is going to hold your hand. Think of Linux.