A quiet disappearance has unsettled many Google Home users. The “Call Home” button, a once-reliable feature within the Google Home app, has vanished without explanation, leaving users wondering if they’ve simply imagined its convenience.
Reports began surfacing on Reddit, with users noticing the absence of the button that allowed direct calls to Google Nest Hub displays and Nest speakers from their smartphones. Investigations by tech observers confirm the feature is indeed gone, scrubbed from the app’s interface.
Introduced in 2019, “Call Home” offered a simple, one-touch method to check in on your home while away, providing both audio and video connection to your smart displays and speakers. It wasn’t a headline feature, but for those who relied on it, its loss is keenly felt.
The removal isn’t isolated. Alongside “Call Home,” the “Broadcast” button – used for sending announcements to all Google Home devices – has also been eliminated. While broadcasting remains possible through Gemini or Google Assistant voice commands, the dedicated button is gone.
This shift coincides with the recent, significant overhaul of the Google Home app, now powered by Gemini. The app’s layout has been dramatically altered, introducing a new “Ask Home” chatbox designed to facilitate communication with your smart home.
Google has assured users that Gemini will maintain functionality for existing Google Assistant tasks, even those previously offered for free. However, the transition from Assistant to Gemini appears to be accompanied by a quiet culling of older features.
The disappearance of “Call Home” follows a pattern of deprecated features. Earlier this year, seven smart home-focused Google Assistant features, including “Family Bell,” were removed. This continues a trend that began last year with the elimination of 17 more features, like music alarms and recipe guidance.
These removals raise questions about Google’s long-term vision for its smart home ecosystem. While Gemini promises a more advanced experience, the gradual erosion of established features leaves some users feeling as though familiar comforts are slipping away.
