More and more owners of Google Home speakers are finding a backdoor to use the devices with Sonos’ multiroom audio system, even before Sonos has finished building the promised support for Google Assistant. They say they have done so by filling their homes with the smart speakers that go for around $50 and updating their Google Home mobile app in recent days, sending it to version 2.16 or 2.17 on both Android and iOS.
It’s unclear how well the method is working for most users, but some claim that it successfully unlocked a Google Home Premium trial prompt and launched what appears to be the whole Gemini for Home setup.
What users discovered about the hidden Gemini setup trick
The link seems to launch an internal setup guide for Gemini voice configuration. In the beginning, people received only Gemini’s voices without the new smart home smarts. Most recently, some report that subsequent tries yielded a prompt to initiate a Google Home Premium trial, followed by an email saying Gemini for Home was being onboarded.
Others haven’t been as lucky. There are plenty of reports that say the process only exchanges voice or does nothing. A few people said they never received the email, even though they had been shown the prompts to upgrade to Premium. In other words, it’s very much a “your mileage may vary” situation in classic staged rollout fashion where Google flips certain server-side flags.
How the deep link trick works inside the Google Home app
The URL is using Android’s app link mechanism to open a particular activity of the Google Home app. Although it’s not a public place, this isn’t really the kind of hack you use in the sense of an exploit — it is more like a shortcut to what appears to be a live configuration screen that has been turned on for some accounts and regions.
Users who succeeded for the most part did the following: have Google Home installed and signed in, paste the “googlehome://assistant/voice/setup” link into Chrome, click on the globe result, then follow any prompts shown.
- Install and sign in to the Google Home app.
- Paste “googlehome://assistant/voice/setup” into Chrome.
- Click the globe result that opens the Google Home activity.
- Follow any prompts shown to proceed with setup.
If none of that works, the most circulated tip in the community has been to force stop Google Home, clear its cache, relaunch it, and try again — sometimes with multiple attempts spread over a day or two. Some say the update happened as long as 48 hours after they first got the prompt.
- Force stop the Google Home app.
- Clear the app’s cache and relaunch it.
- Retry the deep link multiple times over 24–48 hours.
And remember, if a trial solicitation for Google Home Premium appears, make sure to read the fine print. This is reported as a free trial and may automatically renew, and availability probably varies by market and account status. It might not unlock full Gemini for Home right away, even if the trial is activated.
Why early results vary widely across accounts and regions
The way Google usually releases big features is in waves, flipping server-side switches by cohort, device type, and region. So that means some people’s accounts might see a hidden setup screen before it has fully enabled the functionality. But it can also explain why users are seeing Gemini voices without the more advanced home control — voice packs may have been pushed out separately (AI-led orchestration is coming later).
Environmental variables include things like device eligibility and Home app version, account enrollment in public preview programs, and even back-end capacity limitations. In the past, Google’s documentation has recommended waiting 24–48 hours for changes to sync across devices and services. The sort of fickle conduct reported here is perfectly consistent with such a pattern.
What Gemini for Home Hopes to Accomplish
Gemini for Home is billed as an evolution beyond command-and-control, adding more conversational requests, context carryover, and smarter automation to speakers and displays. In Google’s examples and marketing, that includes more natural phrasing for routines as well as multi-device coordination and proactive help — but instead of being reactive about home state, it proactively comprehends the current state of your house. The branding of “Premium” referred to by users indicates that some slightly enhanced features could be kept behind a subscription, but it’s unclear whether Google has plans to price this out yet or what all users might get from paying.
For now, a lot of users attempting the deep link only see the refreshed voice pack. It looks like the complete Gemini experience — more fleshed-out queries, context-aware routines, and dynamic home orchestration — is still in the process of gradually being rolled out.
Should you try it now or wait for the official rollout?
If you’re tinker-happy, however, the deep link is low risk — it brings up a Google-controlled activity instead of a third-party website. Just keep going with low expectations and patience. You might be able to unlock Gemini voices, you may see an invitation for the Google Home Premium trial, or you may not see anything new at all.
Before you try anything, update the Google Home app and make sure you’re signed in with the right account and have opted into any official preview programs offered through the settings within the app. If you see a trial offer, however, be sure to note the terms in order to avoid any surprise charges once a promotional period ends.
The upshot: this shortcut is a glance behind the scenes at a feature still taking shape. If nothing else, it may prod the rollout along for those who are anxious to get Gemini up and running on speakers and displays. And for anyone else, you may not have to be diving into deep links so often until the fully supported release comes along.
