When Google announced its Home Hub smart display at the Made by Google event earlier this month, one major app was conspicuous by its absence.
The video streaming service Netflix isn’t available for the Home Hub, nor any of the third-party smart displays outed by the likes of Lenovo thus far. That’s despite a full version of Google’s own YouTube app making its presence felt, with six months of fee access to YouTube Premium and access to YouTube TV.
So, was this a deliberate decision on Google’s part? Or was Netflix holding back on releasing a version of its app for the new display-enabled smart home devices? Turns out its the latter.
Google remains in talks with Netflix over bringing a version of the app – presumably with Google Assistant voice controls – to the Home Hub and other speakers in the range.
In an interview with The Verge podcast (via 9to5Google), Google’s Head of Home and Nest Rishi Chandra said Netflix is adopting a wait-and-see approach before committing to the new platform.
Related: Google Home Hub vs Amazon Echo Show
He said: “Netflix is taking a reasonable approach in this sense. They want to understand how these devices are going to be used, where they’re going to be used before they’re going to commit themselves to a new type of device type. They are being conservative on this.”
So, while it might be a while before Netflix arrives on Google smart displays we should see it eventually.
The Home Hub is the only first-party Google smart display available thus far and competes directly with the Amazon Echo Show.
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In his review, our own David Ludlow gave the device an impressive 9/10 score, praising the ability to easily converse with Assistant, the extra information displayed by the touchscreen, the dedicated smart home controls and integrated YouTube. He said the lack of Netflix was a strike against the device, but it now appears this may be resolved in the long run.
In the meantime, we sure you have other displays with Netflix, right? Why not check out our guide to the best horror films on Netflix for Halloween?
Have you grabbed the Google Home Hub yet? Share your impressions with us @TrustedReviews on Twitter.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
