How To Use Tile With Google Home

Losing stuff isn't an experience nosotros forget that hands, which is why there is a wealth of Bluetooth trackers available — the most notable existence from Tile.

Because that the Tile trackers accept been around for a while, it'south the farther integration with the Google Banana that makes them even more appealing than they already were. You tin now straight control your trackers merely by asking for them by name, with the Google Banana able to call your wallet, phone, keys and more to help yous find them.

Beingness around since 2015, Tile has mindshare that many other smart Bluetooth trackers can't claim. This already puts them near the top of the wishlists of many of you lot out there already.

The added bonus of a tighter and cleaner experience with your Google Habitation and Google Nest speakers and smart displays is just an added but very welcome bonus.

Design & Hardware

A Bluetooth tracker needs to be compact and at the aforementioned time easy to spot. Luckily, the Tile trackers happen to hit both targets and unlike many other alternatives, come in a few distinct versions designed specifically for different purposes. You tin pick upwardly Tile units in a few shapes and two distinct colors: black and white.

The Tile Slim is designed specifically to mimic a credit card, meaning that you lot can slip it into your wallet. It is a piddling thicker than ii credit cards, which ways you probably volition notice it if y'all already carry quite a few. It looks really inconspicuous too, with just a small-scale Tile logo, fiddling 3-dot speaker and matte blackness finish.

With a smaller size, the Tile Mate is designed to look like a basic keyring — and it succeeds. You wouldn't necessarily notice that it is a slice of tech unless you were aware of the Tile brand. The large Tile logo button is prominent but the size is ideal when attached to a set up of keys. The underside has the three-dot speaker and a battery door — should you need to replace it.

Conversely, the Tile Stickers are designed to be quite a flake more discreet. They stick on the side or inside an item using the included 3M tape. They look very much like a big jacket button and although pocket-size, are likely best used for larger items — as I feel like you could knock them off the outer shell of a laptop for example. You can always stick on the back of a phone case if you lot are constantly losing rail of your phone while at abode too.

As for battery longevity, the Tile Slim and Stickers should concluding up to three years, the Mate for as long as the sentinel battery lasts. The Bluetooth range of the Slim and Mate is around 200-feet, whereas the Stickers take a 150-human foot radius. This might modify just how you lot use each tracker either around your home or on your tech.

Information technology's worth noting that the Tile Stickers are actually waterproof, making them ideal for tech you employ outdoors such equally headphones, or fifty-fifty but things like bike helmets and such. You just take to give them 24 hours for the adhesive to be fully bonded.

Installation & Fix-Up

Tile installation and set-up

Unlike many of the other products that brand upward your Google-powered smart dwelling house, the Tile trackers don't require a wall outlet to get started. Instead, you but need to download the defended Tile app to get going.

This guides you through the set-upwardly procedure and helps you lot create an business relationship if you don't already take one. Y'all tin subscribe to the Tile Premium service at $three per month. This gives you some more notable alerts when you might leave something behind, allows you to share Tile devices between accounts, and includes xxx-day location tracking history. On pinnacle of that, Tile will as well send out replacement batteries for trackers should they die.

Well-nigh of the master controls are found here too. You can fix a ringtone, volume, name and assign more to each tracker itself. My advice would exist to keep things simple — i.e. wallet for your wallet, car keys for your keys etc. Having a simple name makes it much easier to call back when y'all lose what you're looking for.

Once you've followed the relatively easy fix-up procedure, yous're at present fix to tie your Tile account to your Google Home account. Simply sign in and all of your previously fix Tile devices will be added and bachelor for vox commands. Unlike some other Google Home tech, it doesn't appear that yous need to assign a room to your Tile trackers — which makes a lot of sense.

Control & Integration

Tile controls

Don't await a ton of controls here. After all, Tile trackers are literally there to add very basic tracking to your existing tech and stuff. Instead of having to ask Google to speak to Tile, y'all can straight upward ask where your trackers are. This speeds up the process immensely.

Here are a few example commands:

"Hey Google, band my (laptop, keys)"
"Hey Google, make my (backpack, water bottle, wallet) band"
"Hey Google, where is my (purse, camera, tablet)"
"Hey Google, find my (gym purse, passport, bike)"

Simply flat out asking where something is will give you lot audible feedback of where your Tile was last seen. I practise recollect it would be overnice to encounter this on a map likewise but, alas, this isn't an option — hopefully soon though. For the forgetful this is such a neat thing, being able to ask Google where your wallet, keys or phone are located really helps you if you lot are decumbent to leaving things in mysterious locations. One matter to note is that setting a different ringtone for each item really helps too.

Being more tightly integrated into the Google Assistant and Google Dwelling house ecosystem means that you tin add together your Tile trackers into your morning routine. That means you can get the perfect audible reminder of where your wallet or keys are just before you lot head out of the door — reducing your morning rush stress levels.

If you manage to bury your Tile under a mountain of stuff, you might hear muffled rings merely should they fall silent, yous tin can open the Tile app and get a visual cue on how close you are. This might be helpful if you put something in a pocketbook or similar. Double-tapping the push button will as well ping your smartphone, giving reverse location tracking functionality — and is pretty keen.

Verdict

Of course, many of you lot might already have a Tile Bluetooth tracker — which is bully! Yous tin now tag your trackers into your existing Google Home ecosystem and and so gain all of the voice controls that come with the recently added further integration.

It'due south a trivial annoying that there isn't a visual map shown on your Smart Brandish or Google Nest Hub of where items are, merely given the range of each Tile tracker is under 250-feet, it might non be accurate plenty to help. Y'all can nonetheless load upward the Tile app though and get a map view of the last location — so non too much of a major issue.

In a perfect universe, nosotros would never need a product such as Tile. Luckily, for the forgetful or just for that actress peace of mind, Tile exists and now the integration with your Google Home speakers is even better withal. For the forgetful, the assortment of Tile trackers accept to exist considered a Google Home Essential.

Where tin I get a Tile tracker?

Depending on just what you lot want, you can become each Tile tracker individually, or in specific philharmonic packs that offer amend value. My choice would exist the Tile Essentials pack, which at $69 gives you lot a Tile Slim, Tile Mate, and two Tile Stickers — this should be enough for most use-cases.

Alternatively, at $25, the Tile Mate is the catch-all tracker. It is probably the best to beginning with, as yous can e'er slap information technology on your auto keys or business firm key without issue — a iv-pack starts at $69 as well. The Tile Stickers start at $40 for a two-pack. For a solitary Tile Slim, that will set up you dorsum $30.