Host your next dinner party with help from Gemini and smart home automations.

Automations are here to help make hosting easier. Just set up a series of actions once on your Google Home app, add a voice command, and Gemini will carry out the tasks for you anytime.¹

An automation is a series of actions your devices take automatically – say when the sun rises, when you arrive at home, or when you start them through the Google Home app. You can also start an automation with a voice command on your phone, or a compatible speaker or display like the Google Home Speaker (coming in spring 2026), Nest Audio, Nest Mini, or Nest Hub Max. The more smart home devices you have connected in the Google Home app – such as the Nest Thermostat, Nest Doorbell, Nest x Yale Lock, or thousands of others – the more creative you can get with automations.² The Google Home app can suggest automations for you.

Automations are customizable and are perfect for making entertaining easier or more special. Create your own or borrow from the hosts’ unique automations below. Each one, and any you make, will require setup in the Google Home app.

Part of the fun of a gathering is the way it makes you feel, and ambience has a lot to do with that. Set your lighting so that it’s warm and welcoming, choose a temperature that will make everyone feel comfortable, and turn on music that matches the moment – and do it all with just one voice command.³

As a former lighting designer, Josh Levin has decorated his home with adjustable, well-placed light fixtures. They all use smart bulbs connected to his Google Home app.³

He set up this custom home automation for dinners he hosts, so that he could activate it with a voice command that he chose:

He can say: “Hey Google, set the mood”

And his devices will:

• Dim the fireplace light

• Dim the bookcase light

• Dim the TV lamps

• Dim the bar light

• Turn off unnecessary lights

• Turn on the music²

Levin suggests that you know your audience. Sometimes lighting can be too much or too little depending on your guests and the tone of the gathering. He also suggests understanding how different light placements affect ambience. You can even set the routine to change the color of the light – for example, turning it to green for a St. Patrick’s Day gathering.

“I love to have a mixture of lamps and sconces, and overhead if available,” he says. “How light is directed and how shadows are created can make a world of difference.”

Most importantly, he says, make sure the lighting atmosphere complements any music or entertainment to tie everything together.

If your guests find themselves deep in conversation in the living room, but you’d like to invite them to the dinner table, Google can help. Use “Help me create” to set up this custom routine:

Say: “Hey Google, dinner’s ready” 

To configure your devices to:

• Dim the lights

• Set the music volume to 40%

• Broadcast across Google and Nest speakers and displays that dinner is ready

Or you could borrow this one from a parent who’s set up an automation to remind the family to get to the dinner table:

Say: “Hey Google, dinnertime” 

To get your devices to:

• Ring a bell on all speakers

• Play the parent’s voice saying “Dinner, dinner, dinner” on repeat³

After dinner, you might want to move to your patio or deck. Take a page from one Nest user’s patio routine:

Say: “Hey Google, start patio”

To have your devices:

• Turn on the outdoor lights

• Light the electric outdoor fireplace

• Play Spotify on the patio speakers⁴

At the end of your party, set up an automation that takes the cleaning off your hands. Here’s one from Nest Audio owner Jeffrey Fina for when you want to add some background music to your vacuuming.

Fina’s command: “Hey Google, clean the wasteland”

And his devices will:

• Turn on the robot vacuum³

• Play the theme song from Fallout 4 (Fina’s favorite video game)⁴

Fina, who has two kids and does a lot of cooking at home, appreciates how his automations can save him time and energy after dinner.

“After a long day, it feels amazing just having the house do things at my will,” Fina says.