Jimmy Westenberg/Android Authority
TL;DR
- Home users are reported to have received a message stating that “Phone Actions and Automations will no longer be available starting the first week of May.”
- Google appears to have not publicly shared any information about changes to the way automation works.
- We’ve contacted Google in hopes of getting clarification, but have yet to hear back.
Update, April 24, 2026 (04:30 PM ET): Google has responded to our inquiries and provided clarification about what exactly is happening with the automation over the next month.
Original article, April 24, 2026 (02:17 PM ET): Setting up your smart home can be a huge task, configuring every last device to your liking – but once you have everything perfectly set up, you can just sit back and enjoy, right? Well, that’s certainly what we’d like to believe, but we’re starting to get a little concerned hearing reports that Google Home devices are starting to tell users that they’re about to lose some key functionality.
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Over the past few days, we have started finding posts from Google Home users evilwitch452 on reddit or gwon Posting on the Nest Community, where they share the same story: After completing an action, their device tells them, “Just so you know, Phone Actions and Automations will no longer be available starting the first week of May.”
We’re not aware of any upcoming deadlines for Google Home losing this kind of functionality, so this message is surprising to hear – and, understandably, very upsetting for users. We immediately contacted Google for comment, but have not yet received a response.
The idea of Google Home dropping support for automation sounds perfect Wrong To our ears – after all, it’s been less than a year since we got that great new automation editor. This makes us wonder whether the message went out by mistake, or whether it’s possibly referring to a more narrow use case that is going away.
What exactly does Google mean by “phone actions” anyway? Is this referring to the Home command that we launch through the Gemini or the Home app on our phone? Is it about using routines to adjust phone settings? The ambiguity makes it quite difficult to figure out what Google is talking about here.
And what about the first week of May deadline? While we were in the process of researching this issue, Google Posted a message to the Nest community announcing a new “unified approach to Google Home and Nest” — and it will launch this May. However, it appears to be focused solely on reorganizing web content, and it’s not at all clear if this could be a component in this message users are receiving.
For now, we’re just hoping Google responds and sheds some light on what’s really going on here, because we’d hate to start May with a broken smart home.
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