Google Home just turned the humble web browser into a serious smart home command center. A new Devices tab in the Google Home web app brings direct control over lights, locks, thermostats, plugs, and more—no phone, no voice commands required. It’s a deceptively simple upgrade that makes everyday tasks faster and the whole home feel more manageable.
A true control center on the web
The new Devices tab sits alongside Cameras and Automations, giving you a single pane of glass for the essentials. Devices are organized by the rooms you’ve already set up, mirroring the layout you know from mobile. A click toggles a light or plug on and off. Dragging on a light tile adjusts brightness. Thermostats present plus and minus controls for quick temperature tweaks, with deeper options tucked into an overflow menu. Locks, plugs, and compatible cameras show up with context-aware controls you can act on immediately.
Not everything is in place yet. Speakers, smart displays, and Chromecast devices may appear in the grid but can’t be controlled from the web interface for now. Google says more device types and richer controls are on the way, which suggests parity with the mobile app is the target. If you live at your desk, that’s welcome news.
Why desktop control matters
Smart homes get used in short bursts—turn a light on, unlock a door, nudge the heat—and the friction of pulling out a phone is often what keeps people from using advanced features. Placing these controls in a browser tab removes that friction. It’s faster during work hours, easier for multi-user households with shared computers, and more accessible for anyone who prefers large screens and keyboards over mobile UIs.
This shift also aligns with the broader market. Parks Associates reports that more than two in five U.S. internet households now own at least one smart home device, and the average home is layering multiple brands. Because Google Home speaks Matter and Thread, the web app becomes a neutral dashboard for mixed ecosystems. The Connectivity Standards Alliance, which oversees Matter, has been steadily expanding supported device categories and energy features, further reducing the risk of lock-in and making cross-brand control more reliable.
How it fits into Google’s smart home strategy
Google’s trajectory is clear: unify control, improve automation, and add smarter assistance on top. The company has been integrating its AI models into Home to simplify routines and natural-language commands—think “dim the kitchen to dinner mode and set the thermostat for guests” as a single instruction. A robust web console complements that push, offering a visual, click-first path for those moments when typing or speaking isn’t ideal.
Hardware momentum helps. New and refreshed Nest devices have been popping up in the Home app, and Google has hinted at AI-enhanced assistants for future speakers and displays. The more consistent the control layer becomes—phone, speaker, or web—the more likely people are to build routines they’ll actually use.
What’s missing—and what’s next
The web app currently omits a few power-user touches. There’s no color picker for lights yet, and media device control is the big gap. Advanced camera features, like timeline scrubbing and event filtering, remain stronger on mobile for some users. Still, the foundations are right: room-based organization, quick actions, and consistency with the mobile mental model. Google has flagged that additional device types and controls are planned, pointing toward fuller parity over time.
It’s worth noting that the expanded Devices tab is rolling out through Google Home’s Public Preview for the web, so not everyone will see it immediately. That phased approach is common for features that touch a wide range of third-party devices and standards.
Real-world gains: energy, security, convenience
Centralized, fast control has measurable upside. Nest’s published research shows its smart thermostat can reduce heating use by about 10–12% and cooling by around 15% on average; the easier it is to adjust schedules or temperature set points from your desk, the more likely you are to follow through. For security, being able to lock a door, check a camera, and confirm the garage is shut without breaking focus is more than convenience—it’s peace of mind.
Small touches add up. Lowering every downstairs light to 40% with two clicks saves energy without killing ambiance. A quick glance at devices in each room makes it obvious when something is left on. And for households helping elderly relatives or managing short-term rentals, a browser-based dashboard lowers the learning curve compared to app-juggling on a phone.
The takeaway: Google Home on the web is growing into a first-class controller, not just a companion view. Even with media controls still pending, the new Devices tab dramatically reduces the distance between intention and action—exactly what good smart home software should do.