To increase privacy on Smart Displays and speakers, Google is introducing a guest mode. It is being released today for Nest Hubs and other original Google devices.
When guest mode is enabled, Google Assistant interactions are not saved to your account and audio recordings of voice commands are automatically deleted.
Asking questions, controlling smart home devices, setting timers and playing music will continue to work. In addition, Broadcast and Family Bell still work, along with speed dialing home contacts. If a photo frame is set in the background, images will continue to move.
Meanwhile, personal results, such as calendar events and contacts, are automatically disabled. That said, services like Google Maps, YouTube and smart home services will continue to save activities in guest mode.
“Ok Google, activate guest mode” starts with a “special touch” ringing and a blank profile icon appears throughout the interface. Can you confirm “Guest mode is activated?” at any time, with the feature remaining active until disabled. Anyone, including those who are not part of your home, can say “disable guest mode”.
Google thinks that guest mode is useful when you receive people. It combines the ability to adjust the sensitivity of the hotword and works as a kind of anonymous browsing mode:
Recently, I was looking for new recipes to surprise my family with a nice New Year’s Eve dinner, but I didn’t want these suggestions to appear on our Smart Display and ruin my plans. When activating guest mode, I could ask Google for recipe suggestions, knowing that the search would not appear in my history and without having to manually go through my settings or enable and disable other controls.
Guest mode on Nest Hub and other original home devices is being launched today in English. It will be available in more languages and devices in the coming months.
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