Google Home September update fixes battery drain and 3 other issues

Google Home is one of the most popular smart home ecosystems because it’s compatible with tens of thousands of products, including some interesting smart home gadgets from Google that make it easy to automate, security, and monitor your home. But there were some issues with the system that needed to be fixed, so on September 16, 2026, Google released a significant update. This update included new features, but it also brought bug fixes and improvements for four key issues.

For most users, the most important fix in the update addresses the Google Home app battery drain issue. Now, widgets in the Google Home app will pause background updates and polling when your phone’s screen is dark, locked, or on a screen saver. This is intended to both preserve battery life and refresh your widgets once you open your phone.

This isn’t the only fix in the September 16 Google Home update, however. There are a variety of minor changes, which can be divided into three categories: Home app crashes and UI improvements, Google Gemini fixes, and Home app camera improvements. It also introduces a new feature called Google Home MCP that integrates more AI tools into the platform.

Continuing with the Google Home app, the rest of the changes are more minor. If you use multiple accounts with Home, the update makes it easier to switch between them. It also fixes a startup crash, makes UI improvements, eliminates freezes when pairing a new device, and improves smoke and carbon monoxide alarm notifications.

As for Gemini, removing some unnecessary tracking, clunkiness, and voice assistant self-disruption aren’t the only improvements. The update fixes a few streaming and broadcast issues, so Gemini should no longer have problems launching TV streaming apps, finding personal playlists, and streaming throughout your home.

Finally, the update brings some improvements for Android and iOS users. If you’re using Android, watching live camera thumbnails and scrolling through video timelines should be smoother. On iOS, the update fixes an issue where the Live button did not work when viewing a recorded event.

Google Home MCP, which stands for Model Context Protocol, allows AI agents like Claude, OpenClaw, and Google’s Antigravity to interact with your smart home devices like security cameras, doorbells, and lights so they can analyze their data and answer questions. The announcement gives some examples of how testers used the new feature, such as asking what the kids did after school or how many loads of laundry were done in a week. It’s currently only available to Google Home Premium Advanced users, and it’s unclear if or when access will be expanded.

Google promises that privacy and security are at the heart of Home MCP, prohibiting AI agents from performing actions such as unlocking doors. Yet the idea of ​​handing over near-total access to your home to an AI model comes with obvious concerns about the privacy and security of your home. It’s also worth noting that this takes place against a backdrop of increasing AI losses during control incidents in which AI models lie, ignore user instructions, or perform undesirable tasks, sometimes to the detriment of others.

Although it is an optional feature that requires users to configure it and grant permissions, Home MCP comes with serious risks. Google even acknowledges that connecting an AI agent “may result in unexpected or even unwanted behavior,” so it’s worth giving this feature a lot of thought before deciding to accept it.