I have a Google Home that I gave a dumb name to and would like to update. How do I rename it? It’s a Chromecast device, if you’re not sure what I’m talking about, Dave.
The Google Home device — a direct competitor to the successful Amazon Echo — is the most sophisticated device in the Google Chromecast lineup, but fundamentally, it’s a Chromecast with a built-in speaker and voice interaction. In terms of streaming audio content to it (so far, there’s no video hookup for a Google Home, but rumors abound that the next gen will have just such a feature, or possibly even a built-in screen), however, it’s just another device you can “cast” to, so it’s controlled the same way that any other Chromecast device would be: though the Google Home app.
Since I have an Apple iPhone 7 as my primary smartphone, I use the iOS version of the Google Home app, but if you’re on Android, there’s an Android version available through the Google Play store too. But you must already have it, because that’s the app you use to configure the unit in the first place. In any case, that’s where you can rename your device!
(I have to admit some curiosity about the current name of your Home unit, but that’s another story!)
To start, launch the app. On the iPhone version, it starts in “Discover” mode:
Don’t start with OK Google, whatever it says! Instead, tap on the “hamburger menu” on the top left (the three horizontal lines) to bring up the main menu:
Notice the “Offers” to sell you more stuff and the tutorial “How to cast”, but to proceed, tap on “Devices” at this point.
Well, there’s my Google Home! You can see that it’s called “Bedroom Home“, but I’m going to change it. To do that, I now want to tap on the mini-hamburger menu (the stoplight? The totem pole?) on the top right: three dots piled one atop the other. This brings up another menu:
Choose “Settings” from this Google Home app menu to proceed. A fair number of choices, so you might need to swipe down to find “Name”, as shown:
To update the name, simply tap on it and you’ll be able to delete, fix spelling errors or come up with an entirely new name:
I’m going to change mine to the extraordinarily original name of “Google Home” since it’s now living in our family room. A few taps to replace “Bedroom” with “Google” and a tap on “Done”. Here’s where I end up:
Important that you tap on “Save” here so that it’s sent to the unit. And you’re done, it’s renamed.
Before we go, however, a bonus note: If you’d like your friends to be able to send music to your Google Home without you having to connect them to your wifi network, you can do that. Just tap on “Guest mode” on the main device settings menu. Here’s what comes up, it’s pretty self-explanatory:
If you’re in a dorm room or an area with close proximity of people who you don’t know, I recommend against this setting. But if you’ve got a house and want to let your friends be DJ for your next party, this can really be pretty fun!
Oh, and a handy second tip: This is exactly the same process you’d use to rename any Google Chromecast or Google Chromecast Audio unit. In case you get more…