By: Nick Gambino
Google Home is a pretty solid alternative to Amazon’s Echo except for one not-so-small detail. You can’t stream any purchased music through the device. Your only options are a few limited free radio platforms. That is until now.
Google Home has just released an update that allows you to stream any of the music you’ve purchased from or uploaded to Google Play Music.
Though there are a few important things to note before getting started:
“The “Play <genre/mood/activity>” basic voice command isn’t supported for uploaded/purchased music.
If Google Play Music isn’t your default music player, you need to say “Ok Google, play X <on Google Play Music>” to hear subscription/free radio/uploaded/purchased music. Only personal playlists will be prioritized above your default music player.
This feature is currently rolling out to all regions where Google Home is supported.”
For the list of commands and functions that are supported check out this Google article. And if you don’t see this supported feature just yet, be patient. It’s rolling out to all users.
This will give Google Home the much-needed boost it needs to fit in as your resident voice-activated assistant. Honestly, what’s a speaker if it can’t easily play all the music you want? A few limited options weren’t enough. Sure there was a round-about way to cast Google Play Music through the device but the idea here is simplicity. You shouldn’t have to “rig it” to perform a simple function.
Now it’s still a bit limited as you can see. If you say “Play <genre/mood/activity>” it won’t throw your Google Play Music tunes into the mix. I can’t fathom why other than it wasn’t deemed important or just didn’t make it in time for this rollout.
It also seems like the easiest way to play music is just to have Google Play Music as your default player. So maybe set that for now. Or you could always buy an Amazon Echo which has amazing music compatibility with iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Amazon Music, etc. Just saying.
What do you think of Google Home’s new, albeit limited, music feature? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
