Users have been asking about Google Assistant integration since we launched compatibility with Amazon Alexa. Today, we’re proud to announce that your AcuRite device can now say hello to Google Assistant. (If you want to get right down to connecting your AcuRite sensor to Google Assistant, here are the instructions.)
Connecting the parts
As we try to realize the somewhat hazy promise of the “smart home,” one of the ongoing questions is, “How do we make devices and systems behave in ways that work for, you know, human beings?”
It turns out, a part of the answer is getting machines to talk to each other. In the early 2000s, attempts at smart technology involved a lot of systems and apps that couldn’t speak the same language. Devices such as smart thermostats, smart furnaces, and robot vacuums couldn’t communicate with each other or with one unified calendar. All of these isolated devices resulted in systems that did not feel (or behave) in ways humans would consider “smart.”
Interconnected systems such as Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa remove those barriers: digital devices now have a common framework for talking to each other, and by extension, you.
Let’s talk about the weather
This is why AcuRite Access is compatible with the biggest brands in home automation: Amazon Alexa, and now Google Assistant. With a verbal command, “Ask AcuRite the outside temperature,” Google Assistant can update you on your own microclimate, around your house or down your driveway.
One of the advantages of these updates would be protecting your expensive electronic devices. TVs and computers are best unplugged during severe weather. So what do you do when it looks like a storm but you want to watch a movie? Or the kids want to watch their favorite show? “Hey Google, ask AcuRite for my alerts. Hey Google, ask Acurite if there’s any lightning.” We want to keep you and your family safe, without missing a beat.
And hey, you’ll never wonder whether you should wear sunscreen again when you ask AcuRite what the UV index is—convincing the kids to stop squirming while you get their whole noses is on you, though.
We think this is the beginning of something beautiful.