Google’s promised Oct. 1 refresh for the Google Home app appears to be sneaking out early — at least if you’re an iPhone user. Over on Reddit, an iPhone 16 Pro Max owner shared screenshots of a dramatically redesigned Google Home interface, complete with a new Ask Home search bar and Gemini integration front and center.

A long-awaited refresh

Gemini enters the game for the Google Home team

Note the AI acknowledgment screen in the last image.

The screenshots line up with what we’ve previously seen in Google’s early previews, suggesting this isn’t just a limited A/B test. The updated UI introduces a cleaner layout and a conversational hub powered by Gemini, Google’s AI assistant. Ask Home seems to be the star of the show: a single box that lets you type or speak natural-language requests to automate routines, search through your video and event history, and even generate summaries of what’s been happening in your house.

Once enabled, Gemini drops users into a dedicated chat-like screen, though, as one Redditor dryly noted, it comes with a disclaimer that “Gemini can make mistakes.” Whether you find that reassuring or not may depend on how much you trust AI to control your lights and thermostats.

What’s striking is that iOS users are getting the new interface before Android, despite the app being a core part of Google’s smart home ecosystem. But there’s a simple explanation: Apple’s App Store review process. Google likely submitted the update early to make sure it cleared Apple’s notoriously strict approval pipeline in time for the Oct. 1 deadline. By contrast, Google can flip a server-side switch and roll out updates on Android within hours, which is probably what it’s waiting to do here.

Android users shouldn’t have to wait long, though. Some are already reporting updated app icons and AI-generated camera event notifications, even if the new UI hasn’t fully landed yet.

Still, the early rollout is a strong signal that Google is betting big on AI in the smart home space. Whether Gemini proves to be more helpful than Google Assistant, or just more chatty, is a question only time (and a few software updates) will answer.