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How to Create an Audio Group in Google Home

How to Create an Audio Group in Google Home

Your first step is to set up audio groups in the Google Home app. You can create multiple groups with the same speakers, which is nice if you have a bunch of Homes and want multiple groups for different occasions. To get started, fire up the Google Home app, then tap the “Devices” icon in the upper right corner.

From there, find any speaker you’d like in a group and tap the three-dot overflow menu in the upper right. Choose “Create Group” from this menu.

On the next screen, give the group a name (use something that Google Assistant can easily understand) and then choose any other speakers you’d like to add to the group. You’ll need at least two speakers to create a group.

After adding your speakers, click the “Save” button to create the group. This should also generate a new entry at the bottom of the Devices page, though I had to close the Home app and re-open it for this new card to show up.

How to Use Your New Audio Group

Audio Groups in Google Home work pretty much the same way as any standalone speaker: either by issuing a voice command or by casting to the group. To play something with your voice, just say “OK Google, play <song/artist/album> in the <name of your audio group>.” So, for example, I can say “Play In Flames in the back of the house,” and Google Home recognizes this as my audio group.

Similarly, you can cast audio from apps that support this feature, like Pandora, Play Music, and the like. In the app, tap the “Cast” button, then choose your audio group. It’s that easy.

How to Edit or Remove Audio Groups from Google Home

If you get a new Google Home and want to add it to your group, you can do this quickly. Jump back into the Home app, hit the “Devices” button on the top corner, and then scroll down to your group.

Tap the overflow menu button and then tap the “Edit Group” command. From there you can add or remove speakers.

Similarly, you can remove the group from that same menu by tapping the “Delete Group” command.

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How to set up Adaptive Lighting With Apple HomeKit Lights

What Is Adaptive Lighting?

The Adaptive Lighting feature was first introduced alongside the iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 software updates in September of 2020. With this feature, Apple’s HomeKit smart home software can automatically adjust the color temperature of supported smart home lights throughout the day. You can get warm yellow tones in the morning as the sun rises, cool white lighting at mid-day, and softer yellow hues at night as the sun sets—all automatically.

The Hardware You’ll Need

Adaptive Lighting only works with smart lights that support it. As of February 2021, Philips Hue bulbs support it, as does the Eve Light Strip. Other lights will hopefully add support for it in the future. You will also need to set up your lights to work with Apple HomeKit if you haven’t already done so. For Hue lights, for example, you can open the Hue app on your iPhone or iPad and select Settings > HomeKit & Siri to set this up. (If you’ve previously set this up and you can currently control your lights with Siri and the Home app, you’ve already set this up.)

Also, you need a device set up to function as a “home hub.” You can set up an Apple TV, HomePod, HomePod mini, or even an iPad as a home hub. The automation actually runs on this device—it constantly communicates with your lights and changes their color temperatures. Here’s how to set up a home hub, courtesy of Apple.

How to Set up Adaptive Lighting

If you have the required hardware and you’ve set up a home hub, this option should be easy to find. Just launch the “Home” app on your iPhone or iPad. You may see a banner saying “Adaptive Lighting Now Available.” If so, tap it to set up your lights.

The Adaptive Lightning Now Available banner in the Home app.

You can also select a specific light and manually enable Adaptive Brightness. Locate your light in the Home app and long-press it to bring up its controls.

Long-press a light tile in the Home app.

When a light supports Adaptive Lighting, you will see a special “Adaptive Lighting” control in the first place in the color presets. Unlike the other color controls, it has a logo of a sun on it. To turn on Adaptive Lighting for a light, just tap that Adaptive Lighting icon.

Tap the "Adaptive Brightness" circle at the top-left corner of the color grid.

That’s it—the light is now in Adaptive Lighting mode. You can change it to another color whenever you want, but it’ll stay in that color until you put it back in Adaptive Lighting mode by tapping the Adaptive Lighting circle.

How Adaptive Lighting Works With Brightness Controls

Adaptive Lighting will not automatically adjust the brightness of your light—just its color temperature. In fact, when you manually adjust the brightness of your light, Adaptive Brightness will automatically change its color temperature. It’s cooler at higher brightness and warmer at lower brightness.

For example, the coolest temperature will be at 100% brightness at mid-day. If you decrease the brightness, the color temperature will get warmer—even if it’s the middle of the day. If it’s night time and your lights are already a warm hue, dimming them will result in them becoming an even warmer color. Give it a try and see how it works.

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Fix Your PC Ran Into A Problem And Needs To Restart

Your PC ran into a problem and needs to restart is a common Windows error that makes the computer go into the blue screen of death (BSoD). It merely informs the user that due to some issues the computer is no longer capable of working correctly. Typical reasons that trigger this message on screen are changes in registry or computer hardware, faulty driver installation or improper PC shutdown.

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