Moving into the Google ecosystem

Why Google?

I decided to go the smart home route and settled on Google. I understand Google's business model and I personally have no issues with it. Google has always been direct with what data they collect and how they sell the information to marketers. Marketers are interested in groups of people categorised into different demographics. None of my personal identifying information is sold unlike Facebook's business model.

Like it or not I have to move with the times. I have always used an Android phone, Google's apps and services. I'm writing this on Google Docs alternating between my Google Pixel phone and my Chromebook. I bring up photos, stream media and music via a Chromecast ultra on my entertainment system. Google services are either free or priced very competitively. Apple, Microsoft and Amazon are just another service to deal with and buy into which does not make sense.

As a service I think it is great but as a search engine it does come across very biased. I can still use alternative search engines if I need to do some serious researching. 

What I have done so far

I have moved away from Samsung and purchased a Google Pixel 3 phone. I love the camera and squeeze for assistance feature. It also gives me peace of mind when I get regular security updates.

I now own a Chromebook for browsing, blogging and video streaming. Chromebooks are amazing devices and now allow you to install Android apps as well as Linux applications. They are very secure as they are based on security hardened Gentoo Linux meaning you don't need an antivirus. A brand new Chromebook also gives you 100GB cloud storage free for 24 months.

My son's I3 laptop recently crashed running Windows 10 and the backup wouldn't install. I had two options, reinstall Windows from scratch or install a different OS all together. I decided to install cloud ready chromium OS. He loves it. It boots faster, all the apps and extensions are on the chrome store and it isn't bogged down with Windoze. He still has access to Google Docs, Microsoft Word and a large selection of games. Though the open source version of Chrome OS doesn't support Android apps, they really aren't needed and it is a bit of a gimmick.

As mentioned before I own a Chromecast Ultra which I love. The Ultra allows 4K video streaming on my entertainment system. I can view photos, stream music and video via my phone. Everyone else on the home network can do the same.

I own a Google home speaker and a Google home mini speaker. The larger of the two is in the living room and the mini is in the bedroom. What I plan to do and how I will utilise them will be explained further on. The benefit of the Google assistant speaker is it recognises individual voices within the house and is customized to their preferences.

I’m starting to use the Google Duo app which is fantastic in my opinion. It is far superior than Facebook's facetime and Microsoft's Skype. The sound and video quality is amazing as you should expect running through google's super server. You can either make voice or video calls to other Duo users. You can use the android app or use it on a browser. The added bonus of owning a Google assistant speaker is you can make a Duo voice call directly from it. Now that the new Google Nest Max has come out I think Google Duo will finally become more popular and possibly take the home phones place.

I pay for a Google Music family plan which includes Google play music and ad free Youtube music. I am considering leaving Netflix and paying for aYoutube premium family plan as my family use Youtube more than Netflix. Netflix is dying, lets face it.

Future plan for my smart home

I want to buy some smart light bulbs and some smart power sockets.

The bulbs will be used in my lamps and toilet light fitting. I will create some custom commands for the Google assistant. “Movie time” will put the lamps on a medium low brightness. “Active house” will put the lamp bulbs on 100%. “Toilet run” will put the assistant speaker on low volume, turn the lamps on 50% brightness with the colour red and turn the toilet light on 40% warm colour to avoid waking anybody.

The smart power sockets will be used for my entertainment system, electric heater and fans. “Turn system on” will turn the entertainment system on. “Warm me up” will turn the heater on. “Cool me down” will turn the fans on.

All the voice commands can be done via the bedroom and living room via the assistant speakers or via my smart phone.