Google TV Streamer’s best feature is coming to your Chromecast

One of the features we like best in the Google TV Streamer is coming to your Chromecast.

The same smart home controls that feature in Google's latest TV streaming device are now available in preview form for the Chromecast with Google TV, making a good streaming device even better.

The Google TV Streamer's interface includes a dedicated Home panel, which appears when you long-press the home button on its remote control. That enables you to access all kinds of smart home devices: lights, locks, thermostats, video cameras, video doorbells, smart plugs and more. And that same panel is coming to Chromecast.

How to get the new Home panel on your Chromecast device

In order to access the new panel you'll of course need your Chromecast with Google TV, and you'll also need Google's Home app for either Android or iOS.

Open that up, choose Settings, and then look for the Public Preview option. If you join the preview you'll then be able to access the new feature.

There are a few caveats, as Google explains. Your Google TV device must be in standard mode, not apps-only or basic mode; you need to have at least one compatible smart home device other than your Google TV; and you need to be an owner or member of a Home in the Google Home app, the same Home that your Google TV is part of. For the time being the new Home panel is not available for kids' profiles.

With the feature in Public Preview it won't be long before it rolls out as part of an official update: unlike betas, which are generally early works in progress, public previews are for features that maybe just need a little bit of polish before they're ready to roll out to everybody. That doesn't mean they're bug-free, but they're usually pretty solid.