Your old Google Home device is the perfect YouTube TV machine for the kitchen

You’re in the kitchen trying to apply Bone Suckin’ sauce to your ribs between wedges on a Saturday. From the other room, your friend shouts, “The game is restarting. They’re hiking with the ball!” But you still have some sauce to make. Luckily, you repurposed that old Google Home screen you had lying around. You shout, “Hey Google, watch ESPN2 on YouTube TV” and you don’t miss a beat. Yes, you can play YouTube TV on your Google Nest Hub. And if you’re in the kitchen, that means no sauce on the screen or remote control. You can listen to what you want to watch anytime, just with your voice.

To be clear, your Google Home device won’t have the clearest picture. The second-generation Nest Hub is 7 inches with a 1024 x 600 resolution screen. This works if you don’t want to miss the big moments at the show, or if you just want to check scores or read recipes. The Nest Hub Max has a larger screen. It measures 10.1 inches with a resolution of 1,280 x 800. It’s not quite the screen you want to spin on for family movie night, but good enough for bingeing reruns of “Parks and Rec” while cooking dinner.

With either screen, you can give basic YouTube TV commands like “Watch TV,” “Louder,” “Pause” or “Show me the TV guide.” Both have touchscreens, so go ahead and swipe after washing. Some users reported YouTube TV not working on Nest Hubs. Cord Cutters News suggests upgrading your system from Google Assistant to Gemini for Home to resolve the issue. If you haven’t tried Gemini for Home, its base version is a free upgrade with hands-free features.

The visual benefits of Google Home extend beyond the kitchen. The Hub uses Google Cast, which is the technology behind Chromecast. It supports most major video and audio streaming services, like Netflix and Spotify. Paired with a solid-sounding Google Home speaker, the Hub is a worthy secondary display for watching financial news at the office or watching surfing videos while sipping mai tais at your backyard tiki bar. But its uses are not limited to music and shows. Google suggests turning the Hub into a digital photo frame, controlling lights and monitoring security cameras. Homeowners have found other uses for their Google Home displays.

Some people use it as a baby monitor. High-end baby cameras like the Nanit Pro are advertised to work specifically with Google Home. Just like you can make sure your baby is sleeping, you can keep an eye on your front door. This isn’t a bad idea for tracking down cheaters visiting rural homes or keeping an eye out for porch pirates. Of course, the ideas go beyond home monitoring. Someone on Reddit took the idea from Google’s digital photo frame and ran with it. They made a joint album for their mother. Her grandchildren add to it when they go on vacation, giving her constant updates on their lives via her Google Home screen. These types of second-life uses can keep an old Hub from gathering dust, although it’s still worth buying a new Google Nest Hub in 2026 if you’re in the market for one.