one question about multiple users

[dcastillo]

So I really only have 1 question about Home. Has anything be said on how it will handle multiple users?
Can my wife an I both tell it "add blah blah blah to my calendar for this friday" and it will know what calendar to add it to?

Thats really the only thing Im concerned about, being able to associate the person talking with their G Account.

anyone know?
-Danny

 

[zachthebomb13]

Following

 

[zachthebomb13]

Google Home’s biggest challenge will be handling accounts for the whole family - The Verge

 

[Jonneh]

That was my question the whole time during the presentation, in between my oohs and ahhs. I really don't see how I can ask, "Google, how long will it take to get to work today?" and it know to use the information from MY Google account, and then someone else in my family can ask for their own work.

If this isn't possible, how can Google Home be a true "Home" replacement for something like Amazon's Alexa? Doesn't Alexa handle this stuff, or does it have the same issue?

 

[Jonneh]

Google Home’s biggest challenge will be handling accounts for the whole family - The Verge

"Google told us that allowing multiple accounts is something they are working on, but didn't give any timeline for when it might arrive. It seems like the sort of thing that Google could solve using its advanced voice recognition, figuring out the difference in tone and timbre between my voice and my wife's. But trying to solve that problem also open the device up to making mistakes, and that is probably something Google wants to avoid with a brand-new product from a relatively new category."

Thanks for the article. Interesting.

 

[zachthebomb13]

Alexa is only one account as well, so I read.

 

[Clocks]

"Google told us that allowing multiple accounts is something they are working on, but didn't give any timeline for when it might arrive. It seems like the sort of thing that Google could solve using its advanced voice recognition, figuring out the difference in tone and timbre between my voice and my wife's. But trying to solve that problem also open the device up to making mistakes, and that is probably something Google wants to avoid with a brand-new product from a relatively new category."

Thanks for the article. Interesting.

Well that's a great way to get an eye roll from the wife. "hun can I put this great new tech gadget on the kitchen counter? By the way it won't work if you try to use it."

My wife and I have very blurred gender roles, but she owns the damn kitchen and everything that goes in it, which is the center of our home life.

 

[zachthebomb13]

Well that's a great way to get an eye roll from the wife. "hun can I put this great new tech gadget on the kitchen counter? By the way it won't work if you try to use it."

My wife and I have very blurred gender roles, but she owns the damn kitchen and everything that goes in it, which is the center of our home life.

Ya, as much as I'd like to think that this would be my gadget, I know that if it's in the kitchen/living area, it will belong to my wife. She's the one that is home all day, so it would become her assistant, not mine.

 

[whitenack]

Hadn't thought about this little technicality. Thanks!

Yeah that will put a damper on usability.

 

[zachthebomb13]

Hadn't thought about this little technicality. Thanks!

Yeah that will put a damper on usability.

Kind of wish they'd maybe make this more clear. I'm willing to bet there will be multiple upset people when they receive their device.

 

[YAYTech]

Google may run into some frustrations & delays in licensing/copyright controls with multiple users too. How frustrating would it be...

Jill - "OK Google, play Hello by Adele"
GHome - "I'm sorry Jill, I can't do that. That song is not in your library."
Jill - "My husband just bought it yesterday!"
GHome - "Then he will have to tell me to play it, I'm sorry."

It may not be a problem, as they already do some sharing, but it's crazy sometimes how the record labels & movie studios restrict sharing digital media in some ways. For example, on the Moto Z phone on Verizon there's an NFL app included that allows you to stream games. However, if you put the projector mod on, it won't show the NFL app, because they had to block that function to appease copyright & licensing restrictions.

 

[Christopher Meinck]

I have a shared family calendar. I'm hoping I can tie that to Google Home.

 

[jam4775]

I just had a thought about this multiple account thing on the Google Home... I would like to see Google allow you assign multiple accounts to the device and then assign a unique wake word to each account. Then it would have you train your voice to the wake word for your account.

By allowing you to choose a wake word for each account this would help the Google Home devices know for sure who's talking to it, and training the wake word with your voice will help secure your account.

 

[DenverRalphy]

IBy allowing you to choose a wake word for each account this would help the Google Home devices know for sure who's talking to it, and training the wake word with your voice will help secure your account.

The problem is that wouldn't be secure at all. All it would take would be for somebody to record you speak your trigger/wake word, and use the playback to access your account. Teenage kids will be really quick to figure that one out.

 

[whitenack]

The problem is that wouldn't be secure at all. All it would take would be for somebody to record you speak your trigger/wake word, and use the playback to access your account. Teenage kids will be really quick to figure that one out.

But that can happen now.

 

[DenverRalphy]

But that can happen now.

Yeah it can. That's why if I were to get one now, I'd set it up with a newly created generic Google account for the household to use.

 

[jam4775]

The problem is that wouldn't be secure at all. All it would take would be for somebody to record you speak your trigger/wake word, and use the playback to access your account. Teenage kids will be really quick to figure that one out.

It would be plenty secure enough for my house... I don't want/need some overly complicated security on Google Home for my home... I want it to be simple and reliable for the whole family.

And beside I'm not worried about my kids watching something they're not supposed to because they can sure try if they want to but if I catch them they know their home life is going to really suck for several weeks after... they clearly know the rules and the consequences. Also I'm not naive to think I'll be able to completely lock my kids out of everything they're not supposed to access... but my kids also know my experience with IT and that I have my ways of finding out.

 

[whitenack]

Here's an article about it...

Google Home has a glaring flaw | Computerworld

 

[jam4775]

Here's an article about it...

Google Home has a glaring flaw | Computerworld

This article isn't saying thing that we don't already know... during the release event Google said the Google Home currently only supports one Google account at this time but they are working on the ability to add multiple accounts in the future. So yeah if you add your personal account to Home anyone who has access to Home will have access to your account... until support for multiple accounts is added it would probably be best to create a generic family account for Home if multiple people are using it.

This is no different than how the Echo works now... you can only add one amazon account to the Echo.

 

[Jaycemiskel]

This article isn't saying thing that we don't already know... during the release event Google said the Google Home currently only supports one Google account at this time but they are working on the ability to add multiple accounts in the future. So yeah if you add your personal account to Home anyone who has access to Home will have access to your account... until support for multiple accounts is added it would probably be best to create a generic family account for Home if multiple people are using it.

This is no different than how the Echo works now... you can only add one amazon account to the Echo.

If you have a household you can purchase from the other person's account though. My wife is in my household and she's used her account to make purchases.