My Google Home routines failed during travel. Can I fix this?

July 4, 2022 9:41 AM

I'm US based, and I rely on routines in my Google Home app daily to turn on/off lights for convenience and security. When I travel, it's helpful to have lights so it looks like I'm home. But when I went to Europe recently, my neighbor reported (and I verified) that the lights were often on during the day; off in the evening. I could manually flip them in the Home app, but I had to do it every day.

In short, Google Home routines were working, but on European time instead of EDT. Is there a way to remedy this for my next trip?

posted by rdauphin to Technology (2 answers total)

Do you have a Google Nest to run the home routine with? Supposedly the Home address will ensure it is in the right timezone, as per this Google Nest Community thread.
posted by kschang at 10:43 AM on July 4, 2022 [1 favorite]

Do you have your home's physical address specified in the app's settings? (General > Home Information)

It's optional, and I can imagine not doing it because Google and also everything runs fine when you're at home / in the same time zone. But it does mention that it could be used for Home and Away routines.
posted by holgate at 10:43 AM on July 4, 2022 [1 favorite]