Google is dramatically expanding the early access program for its new Gemini for Home voice assistant. This expands availability to millions of users and adds support for third-party speakers. This is great news for anyone who owns a non-Google smart speaker and felt left out of the initial rollout.
The company announced it is now sending out invitations much more rapidly. If you live in the US and haven’t gotten an invite yet, you can sign up now and expect to receive an invitation within 24 hours. You just need to check your Home settings in the Google Home app and enroll in the Early Access program. Keep in mind that the transition is strictly one-way; you cannot revert to the legacy Assistant after upgrading.
There is a small caveat, though. In certain, rare circumstances, a sign-up for early access will not immediately result in an invitation if the home contains an incompatible device or account. Unfortunately, there’s no way to really know until it happens. Just keep an eye out for now, but this seems to indicate that more will become compatible in the future. Gemini for Home is a massive shift; it completely replaces the existing Google Assistant on your smart displays and speakers.
The biggest functional change is Gemini’s ability to maintain conversational context. For example, if you ask about a broken dishwasher, you can follow up with, “The filter looks good, what should I check next?” and Gemini understands you are still referring to the dishwasher. This also makes media control much easier. Instead of remembering the exact title of a song, you can just describe it vaguely, like asking it to “play the song from the movie where the kid who wants to be a space explorer goes to a planet of treasure to prove himself,” and it will usually figure it out.
The AI upgrade extends beyond just voice commands and into your security cameras, turning them into what Google calls AI cameras. This basically identifies people and animals in the notifications. The system also offers a feature called Home Brief, which condenses hours of video history into a short daily recap. While convenient for catching up fast, it means the system is constantly interpreting and logging the events of your day.
It’s important to know that while the basic Gemini for Home voice assistant replaces Google Assistant for free, many of the advanced AI features come with a price tag. Basic features like smart home controls, media playback, and timers are included at no cost. However, features like Gemini Live, the AI-powered notifications, Home Brief summaries, and the ability to search your camera history all require a Google Home Premium subscription, which starts at $10 a month.
The rollout started back in October 2025 on first-party Google speakers and displays like the Nest Hub (2nd gen), Nest Audio, and Nest Mini (2nd gen). Older devices, including the original Google Home and some first-gen Nest devices, will support most features but will not get Gemini Live.
Source: Google
