Friday, December 23, 2016

enter Nexus 6P

it was time. there's really nothing wrong with the Nexus 5.. but it was time to upgrade.

I really want the Pixel XL, but consistently out of stock, or a 3-4 week wait for shipping. so I went with the next best thing.

it's friggin huge. I'll get used to it.

Saturday, December 3, 2016

what can Google Home do?

I know there are other lists out there, but this one is mine, the commands that matter to us. will be ongoing..

-change volume to 50% on Whole House
-add to Shopping List
-where's the nearest ..
-what time is so-n-so open?
-how long will it take to get to ..


things we know she can do:

-interrupt a music stream to ask her what song it is, to add to shopping list, or a question and then right back into the stream
-recognize voices when playing trivia


what she says she's not able to do/help with yet:

-when a song is playing on one unit, "Hey Google play this on Whole House."
-sending a song to another unit, "Hey Google play this song on Bedroom."
-queuing the next song or album, "OK Google, que The Mollusk album by Ween," or "Hey Google, play the album Tidal next."


what I want her to do:

-add to the Shopping List on the main account from any unit "hey Google, add milk to Kitchen Shopping List."

-remember wtf she was doing before she stopped- if the pause is too long between commands or a song/album end, Groups drop and the whole conversation needs to be started again and worded correctly

-stop announcing the default music source "playing blah blah blah on Google Play Music" just play please..

Friday, December 2, 2016

how to play different music on separate Google Home units and also play in unison as a Group

I dove in. two Google Home units and a ChromeCast as my birthday present to myself this year- I deserve it, dammit. while I was at it, pre-ordered a 3 pack of Google WiFi- we have three floors we use equally, plus outside in the better weather. Time Warner sucks, we don't want to give them as much money... and the Powerline adapters work, but need reboots too often- looking forward to GWiFi.

my goals for Google Home:
- music everywhere in the house, on demand, with pretty much zero limitations on content
- the ability to have all GHome units play the same music at the same time throughout the house and in specified groups
- the ability to play different songs on separate units and groups
- play around with ChromeCast and services, get rid of TWC in whatever fashion possible
- easy access to the same information with less effort
- eventually get smart with the house in general
- and of course, stay the fuck offa our phones so much

all arrived today. I already have Play Music Unlimited. I have 3 gmail accounts in my phone and Chromebook. this came in handy.

set up the first as "Livingroom" and got to know her a little bit before finding a good spot in the living room. set the second unit up as "Basement" while in the kitchen, about 3-4 yards away from Livingroom. before I took her downstairs, got to know how far apart they should be, what happens with two in close proximity, how they play under the "Whole House" group, etc.

then my daughter came home. while I'm working in the basement enjoying The Beatles Love album, she asks for Twenty One Pilots "Heathens" in the living room and I get booted. nope. not cool. certainly not putting up with this.

let's see if this works..
I upgraded our Play subscription to the Family plan. I added my other gmail addresses as users. I added my other email addresses as users in the Google Home app on my Nexus 5. I deactivated the Basement unit from my main gmail account, switched to another account within the Home app and Set Up Basement on the other account. it remained in the Whole House group as a speaker, and as a Linked Device.

then we test.
- leaning down the stairs, "Hey Google, play Adele." Basement starts playing some Adele song.
- in the livingroom, "OK Google, play Heathens by Twenty One Pilots." starts playing. I can hear my daughter singing along as I lean back down the stairs, listening to Adele on Basement for the entirely of both songs.
- standing centrally and speaking loudly, "OK Google, STOP" and both units go silent.
- in the livingroom, "Hey Google, play Pearl Jam on Whole House." SUCCESS! Livingroom announces the action and Pearl Jam is playing the same song at the same time on both Basement and Livingroom.

costs $5 extra a month and a few minutes of your time.

note: while in the Home app on your phone, all devices are listed, regardless of current account shown. if you want to make changes, you do need to have the corresponding account selected within the Home app.

I'll be getting a few more units down the line. will set up under the main account, add to the groups I want, before switching to another account on my Play Family plan. and Taryn can have her own, on her own account in her own room for so many reasons.

next two projects:
- Hey Google, announce "blah blah blah" to Whole House and/or Hey Google, play "this song" on "this Home" (I had to play to the Whole House group to Rick Roll Andy in the basement LMAO)
- "OK Google, add "blah blah blah" to Kitchen Shopping List" from any Home unit


oh and Chromecast.. uuhh.. I'll play around with it a little more, but I don't think it fits us- we'd have to keep TWC just to be able to log into all the apps, everyone would need the apps on their phones.. nah.. we're better off with PS Vue for what we wanna do.