Google Home July 2026: suggested automations land in v4.20

Until now, building an automation in the Google Home app meant staring at an empty editor and knowing exactly what you wanted to wire together. v4.20 changes the starting point. The Automations tab now surfaces a set of ready-made routines, drawn from the devices you already own, so the first move is picking one that looks close rather than building from scratch.

The suggestions are contextual. If you have never made an automation they sit at the top of the tab; if you already have a few, they appear underneath your scheduled ones. Google's own examples are the everyday jobs: turn the cameras on at night, switch the lights off when the house is empty, start music at a set time. What you are offered depends on your kit, so a Matter light might suggest brightness and colour starters while a smart plug only offers on and off.

Nothing switches on behind your back. Each suggestion opens as a draft: you can see the named device, the room, the trigger and the actions, edit any of it, and it only runs once you save. Two things worth knowing: this is free and separate from the paid 'Help me create' natural-language builder that needs a Google Home Premium subscription, and it sits alongside the advanced script editor rather than replacing it.