Starting today, Google’s smart speakers, such as Nest Hub and Nest Mini, will have a new option called “Guest mode”. When enabled by saying “Ok Google, activate guest mode”, the speaker will act a little more like a public Google Assistant terminal and less like your own personal assistant.
When guest mode is enabled, queries are no longer saved to your Google account and some personal data, such as your calendar, are not displayed. However, the speaker will still be able to do the basics, such as setting timers, answering questions and playing music.
However, don’t think it works as a way to protect your personal data: turning off guest mode is as simple as asking the speaker to do so. The idea is, apparently, that if you are welcoming guests into your home (which, now: please don’t), they won’t accidentally see your schedule and whatnot.
The feature is not as robust as the Chrome browser’s incognito mode. Although interactions are not saved, your speakers still need to be connected to your account so that they can continue to access all the integrations you’ve set up with music, smart lights, and so on.
In other words, this is not a good solution for Airbnb hosts. Google has a hospitality mode for its speakers, but it’s mainly for hotels.
When you exit guest mode, your queries will be saved back to your Google account. But, as the company announced last August, it is no longer saving audio recordings by default, unless you actively choose to allow it.