The Google Home app allows you to configure and manage many devices from Google including Google Home speakers, Chromecast devices, Nest speakers/thermostats, and Google Wi-Fi. It also allows you to link and manage many types of smart home devices that work with these products. You can also talk to the Google Assistant from your phone if using iOS and configure many settings. There are far too many options to cover in detail, so this will be more of a high level overview of what can be done.

Setup is extremely easy. The app prompts you to sign into or choose a Google account. This account is where all your devices will be saved and managed. Next, you are prompted to allow Bluetooth and network access. Unlike the Amazon Alexa app, this app requires your phone or tablet to be on the same network as your Google devices so you can configure and manage them. You can use Bluetooth to make it easier to discover your devices for initial setup. If you cannot or will not do this, there is an alternate setup mode where you join a temporary Wi-Fi network created by the device. The app will also prompt for location access, which is required to properly configure location settings for things like weather and traffic info. After this initial setup experience, the app will look for devices to configure. If you have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi enabled, this should be a very easy process. Your device should be detected, so all you need to do is follow the steps and your Google device should be up and running in no time.

At this point, you are ready to go. Explore the app to learn what you can do. There are a lot of features, and new things are constantly added as the Google ecosystem improves. One feature worth briefly discussing is casting. The app acts as a remote control for Google Cast enabled devices. For example, you can choose to play music from YouTube music on one or several speakers configured in a group. This is restricted to individual apps on iOS, but Android allows you to cast anything you want, including all system audio and video from your device. This means you could configure a speaker group and tell your device to cast audio to it. All audio including TalkBack is sent, though be aware this is not ideal as Google Cast introduces a second or two of latency which is unacceptable for quickly navigating the screen with text-to-speech. Still, it is very interesting this can be done and has all sorts of uses, from displaying photos and videos on your Google Cast enabled TV, to playing music on speakers all over the house. Experiment and most important of all, have fun!

The Google Home app is a controller and central hub for all your Google devices. The Google Homes have all sorts of uses for everyone, but they are especially useful for people with a range of disabilities. Google is king when it comes to information. Ask the Google Assistant almost anything, no matter how obscure, and you are guaranteed to get some sort of answer 95% of the time. Connect smart home devices such as lights, thermostats, blinds, or kitchen appliances and it becomes obvious how these could impact people with a range of disabilities. If you are a paraplegic or have other motor issues, you can configure smart blinds and gain independent control, either manually via voice/app, or automatically via Assistant routines. If you are blind, you can quickly identify if lights are on or off, toggle them, independently adjust the thermostat, or control kitchen appliances. At the end of the day, the goal is all about access to more information and making it easier to do daily tasks. The only limit is your imagination and the available products, but this is constantly changing, so who knows where we will be in the next 10 or 20 years!