The core functionality remains the same, but the new UI for the Google Home app is sleeker and cleaner than ever before.
The Google Home app has remained mostly unchanged since its rebranding from the Cast application around this same time last year, but just a day before Google's Pixel 2 announcement event, a new update has been released that radically changes the app's home screen.
Right off the bat, you'll see that Google is moving away from the Watch, Listen, and Discover tabs in favor of simpler Discover and Browse options. Page navigation has been moved from the top to the bottom (similar to what we saw with the YouTube app this May), and the actual pages for those tabs have been cleaned up considerably.
The Discover page is the one you'll see by default when opening the Home app, and here you'll see tips for different functions of your Google Home, recommended searches and features to try out with the Google Assistant, recommended Chromecast apps, and more. This is also the page where you'll see links that the Google Assistant sends to you for more information on a question you previously asked it.
Old Discover page (left), New Discover page (right)
Jumping over to the Browse tab, this is the new home for finding TV shows, movies, and music that you might be interested in. The top of the page shows popular TV shows and movies that you can browse through, and scrolling through this list will show specific sections for YouTube, Netflix, Spotify, Google Play Movies, and any other media streaming apps that are linked to your account. Additionally, tapping on the TV shows, Movies, and Music icons near the bottom will take you to specific pages for these categories to help narrow down exactly what you're looking for.
Old Watch page (left), New Browse page (right)
Along with these bigger changes, there are also some nice touches throughout the Home app that makes it feel more polished and complete than ever before. TV shows, movies, and music have been given new splash screens that tie in nicely with the new UI, big titles at the top of all pages make it clear as to exactly what you're looking at, and new volume controls for casting tunes looks insanely sleek.
All of these changes come with the new 1.25.81.13 version of the Google Home app, and if you don't want to wait around for the update to hit the Google Play Store, you can download the APK file.
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