Google has announced new sharing features in version 3.33 of the Google Home app that aim to make managing smart home access more secure and customizable. With the addition of a new “Member” role, users can now grant trusted individuals like including family, roommates, and guests limited access to home devices without giving them full administrative privileges.
The Member role, first introduced in public preview in December 2024, is now widely available and gives users the ability to assign tailored access for each person they invite to their Google Home. In addition to choosing between Admin and Member roles, users can fine-tune Member permissions, including access to activity history (such as camera or lock logs) and control over device and home settings.
“Sharing a smart home can get complicated, especially when you’re trying to tailor the experience to each guest,” the company noted in its announcement. “We’ve made some improvements to how sharing a home and devices work in the Google Home app to help make this simpler.”
The update also includes expanded support for families with children. For the first time, users can invite children under the age of 13, provided they are part of a Google Family group, to their home setup as Members. Children in this role can perform basic actions like turning lights on and off, playing music, or unlocking the front door when they get home from school.
The update follows a slew of new features that were added to the Home App following Google’s developer conference earlier this year, including Picture-in-Picture support for viewing Nest camera feeds on Google TVs, and occupation-based automation triggers.
Google’s most anticipated Home feature by far, however, is the yet-to-be-released AI-powered home automation creation tool, which the company announced back in October 2023.
Google outlines that Admins still retain full control over the home, including device management, automation settings, and presence sensing. Members, by contrast, receive only the capabilities granted to them, which Google calls a significant improvement for households looking to balance security and convenience.
For example, Admins are the only ones allowed to add, manage and remove people to the home, delete the home, add or remove devices, share devices and data with services, link a subscription to the home, set up presence sensing, and more.
For more on how to share a home in Google Home, users are directed to the official Help Center.
