How-To
Do Ring devices work with Google Home
In a perfect world, all smart home devices would work together. But do Ring devices work with Google Home?
Smart home devices are great for keeping your home comfortable and protected. But, they don’t always play nice together, especially once you have multiple manufacturers involved.
Ring makes some of the best home security cameras, and Google Home is one of the better ways to control your smart home from one place. You’d think it would make sense if they worked together, but it’s not quite that simple.
Searching for integrations between the two might tell you that it’s possible to use your Ring devices in Google Home. But when
Are you doing something wrong here? Nope.
Quick Answer: Ring devices no longer have an integration with Google Home, after the existing integration was removed in 2023.
Now that you have the short answer, stick around to find out why they
A short history of Ring and Google Home compatibility
Ring devices were initially compatible with Amazon and Google smart home technologies. In simple words, you could easily connect Ring Cameras and Doorbells to Alexa or Google Home.
Then one little thing happened…
In 2018, Amazon acquired Ring in a historic deal for upwards of a billion dollars.
Okay, two things happened: a few years before, Google took over Nest for $3.2 billion. Then in 2019, Google announced that Nest users would need to use Google accounts as part of folding the functionality in to Google Home.
Ever since, Ring started limiting the scope of its integration with Google Home (or perhaps it is the other way around), the smart home market consolidated, and the big names reduced their cooperation.
Until Dec 2022, you could add a Ring doorbell or camera to Google Home to perform basic tasks like checking battery levels, receiving motion alerts, and recording videos.
However, as of 2023, this limited integration has been completely removed. Ring Doorbell can no longer be added as a device to Google Home, meaning users cannot access the above basic functionalities.
Oddly, you can view Nest cameras on Alexa devices through an Alexa skill, showing that the two companies can work together sometimes.
We just can’t use Ring devices in Google Home.
The future in light of the new Matter protocol
Do you know what ‘Matter’ is? Here’s a quick primer.
Matter is a new smart home standard developed by major tech companies like Apple, Google, Amazon, and Samsung.
It is a universal communication protocol that allows multiple smart home devices to communicate with each other regardless of the manufacturer.
As Amazon, a significant contributor to Matter and the parent company of Ring, is involved, one might expect Ring devices to be fully compatible with all devices supporting the Matter protocol.
In simple terms, Ring devices could someday be fully compatible with Google Home.
However, this is unlikely to happen anytime soon. Matter 1.0 doesn’t support cameras, so Ring cameras and doorbells are currently off-limits. Additionally, Ring has not indicated any plans to adopt Matter in the near future.
Therefore, if you are currently using a Google Smart Home ecosystem, it might be best to avoid Ring devices for now.
The future is still uncertain
For now, no Google services work with Ring devices, despite their previously working integration. If you’re heavily invested in the Google ecosystem, it’s best to avoid adding Ring to your smart home setup for now.
Our hope for their seamless integration lies in the new Matter protocol eventually supporting camera devices; and, Ring adopting this new communication standard.
Have any thoughts on this? Drop us a line below in the comments, or carry the discussion to our Twitter or Facebook.
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