I finally got Gemini on my Nest speakers, and you can too (within 24 hours)

For the past few months, the rollout of Gemini for Home—the massive AI upgrade that replaces the aging Google Assistant on smart speakers—has been a bit of a lottery. It seemed like some people got the invite quickly, while others (myself included) have been checking our Google Home apps daily with no luck.

Well, Google is finally opening the floodgates. In a new community post, Google says they are drastically speeding up the process. In fact, they are promising that anyone in the US who requests early access will receive an invite within 24 hours.

I finally got it!

After weeks of waiting, I finally received the update on my Nest speakers just yesterday! I’ll save my full thoughts until after some more testing, but I can already tell you it makes these devices feel significantly smarter. The robotic (dumb) interactions of the old Assistant are gone, replaced by something much more conversational.

However, there is one odd omission in my setup. While my Nest Audio and Nest Hub units are happily running Gemini for Home, my Pixel Tablet (while docked in Hub Mode) is still waiting for the update. Considering the Pixel Tablet is supposed to be the “premium” version of a Nest Hub, it’s a bit strange that it seems to be lagging behind the dedicated speakers in this rollout.

How to get access (and the Google Groups trick)

If you haven’t seen the prompt in your Google Home app yet, you can force the issue. Go to Settings > Home settings > Early Access in the Google Home app to request an invite.

Google also points out that if you aren’t getting the invite, you might have a setting blocked in your Google account. You need to go to Google Groups settings and ensure “Add me to their groups” is checked. This allows Google to add your email to the beta list.

Subscription costs and “No Going Back”

Before you rush to update, there are two massive pieces of fine print you need to know. The first is that this is a one-way street. Google explicitly states that “Once you switch your home to Gemini for Home voice assistant, it can’t switch back to Google Assistant.” If you rely on a specific legacy Assistant feature that Gemini breaks, you are out of luck.

And while basic features like smart home controls, alarms, and general Q&A are free, Google notes that the advanced Gemini Live feature (the conversational, back-and-forth mode) is available “on compatible devices with a Google Home Premium subscription.”

Hardware Compatibility

Also, make sure to check compatibility. Not all speakers are created equal in this new era.

• Full Experience (Gemini Live): Requires Nest Hub (2nd gen), Nest Audio, Nest Mini (2nd gen), or Nest Hub Max.
• Basic Experience (No Live): Older devices (Nest Hub 1st gen, Home Mini, original Google Home) and Third-Party Speakers will get the smarter AI for answering questions, but they will not support Gemini Live conversations.

If you are okay with those caveats, head to your Home app and sign up!