There are further Assistant updates regardless of how connected your home might be. Actions now include more advanced media playback for formats beyond music and podcasts. You can listen to clips from TV shows or a white noise generator, for instance, and get control over it like you would any other media format. You can also subscribe to daily updates and other notifications on your phone if you always want the latest news, and there's now a browsing carousel when you have a plethora of visual choices (clearly, this only works on screen-equipped devices).

While all these updates are helpful, Custom Device Actions may hold the most potential. It's not just that it gives you the straightforward smart home control you expect. This should open the door to voice control over devices where it wasn't practical before, including gadgets designed primarily for spoken commands.