After being mistakenly released and quickly retracted in June this year, Bluetooth audio streaming has returned to the Google Home and looks to be here to stay.
The feature was first announced at Google IO 2017 as part of a larger software update, and while the unit has always contained a Bluetooth chip, it hasn’t yet been possible to use this connectivity option to stream audio.
Previously, Google Home users had to rely on the services that were strictly supported by the device – Spotify, Google Play Music, Pandora, and YouTube Red – or otherwise cast their media using their home Wi-Fi network and supported apps. Now users can stream local audio directly via their Bluetooth connection.
How do I do it?
Firstly, there’s a chance you may not yet have access to this feature as it seems to be rolling out to users gradually – you’ll need to check if you have the latest firmware (version 1.26.93937) for it to work.
To pair the Google Home with your device, you’ll need to navigate to “Devices” in your Google Home app. Under this menu, you’ll find an option for “Paired Bluetooth Devices” which will allow you to “Enable Pair Mode”. From here, go to the Bluetooth settings of the device you want to pair and find Google Home in the list in order to pair with it.
There hasn’t yet been any official announcement from Google about this update, but according to Google Support chat via Ausdroid, the feature is here to stay.
Some users have reported spotty connections and lag issues with the Google Home’s Bluetooth connection, so there’s a chance the feature may be further developed, but we’ll have to wait and see if any related updates are on the way.
