Learn about sound detection for speakers and displays

With a Nest Aware subscription, your Google speaker or display can alert you of potential emergencies through the Google Home app.

For example, your Google Home Mini and Google Nest Hub can pick up the sound of smoke alarms, carbon monoxide alarms, and breaking glass. You will then get a notification of the event through the Home app, even when you’re not at home.

How to turn on Sound Detection

Important things to know

Sound detection does not let your speaker or display detect smoke or carbon monoxide. It can only detect the sound of a smoke or carbon monoxide alarm. Sound detection is not a replacement for an alarm system and cannot contact emergency services, such as the police or fire department, on your behalf.
You must have a Nest Aware subscription and a US address saved in the Home app to use sound detection on your speaker or display.
Smoke and carbon monoxide alarm and glass breaking detection isn’t available with a 1st gen Nest Aware subscription.
You need the Google Home app to turn on sound detection for your speaker or display and change settings.

Compatible devices

Google Home
Google Nest Mini
Google Home Mini
Google Nest Audio
Google Nest Hub
Google Nest Hub Max
Google Nest Wifi point

Other devices

Nest cameras can also detect sounds and notify you. Learn how sound detection works for your Nest camera.

How sound detection works for speakers and displays

With sound detection, your speaker or display can notify you of any smoke or carbon monoxide alarm or glass breaking, even when you’re not home.

For example, if you’re gone but have left something on the stove, the smoke alarm in your home should go off when it detects smoke. With a Nest Aware subscription, the speaker you have in the same room as your smoke alarm can detect the sound your smoke alarm makes.

Your device records the alarm and saves the audio clip in the Home app. If you have notifications turned on, you’ll get a notification from the Google Home app. You can then check and verify the event in your Home app.

If you need to quickly contact a 911 call center close to your home, you can use emergency calling in the Google Home app.

Your speaker can work the same way if it were to detect the sound of a glass window breaking in your home. That way, if there is an intruder, you can contact emergency services to dispatch assistance to your home.

Placement guidelines for sound detection

For the best sound detection results, your device should be in the same room as a smoke alarm, carbon monoxide alarm, or window.

If your device can’t be in the same room, make sure that it has a clear, unobstructed path to hear the alarm or window. No walls, doors, or furniture should block the sound that your device needs to detect.

Check sound detection events in the Google Home app

In the Google Home app, you can find and select sound detection events to review audio clips your speaker or display has recorded.

From a notification

Important: You need to turn on notifications to get alerts when your device detects alarm sounds. Learn how to turn on your Google Home app notifications.

You can use the notification to go directly to the sound detection event in the Feed. From there, you can simply tap the sound detection event to review the audio clip in the Home app.

In the Activity feed

Your Activity feed shows the events your supported Nest products detect.

Open the Google Home app .
Tap Activity .
Find and select the sound detection event to open the sound clip. You may have to scroll down to find the sound detection event you want.
- Smoke and carbon monoxide alarm and glass breaking events will automatically show up under "Priority events" at the top of the Feed.
- Older smoke and carbon monoxide alarm and glass breaking events will move under "Recent events" in the Feed.

In progress alarms

If your display or speaker detects a smoke or carbon monoxide alarm and the event is In progress, it will show up at the top of the Home app. The ongoing sound detection event will be at the top of the Feed.

Dismiss a sound detection event

When you dismiss a sound detection event in the Feed, it will move to the top of Recent events.

If a sound detection event is in "Priority events" in the Feed, tap Dismiss.
If your speaker or display has detected a smoke or carbon monoxide alarm and the event is In progress, it will appear at the top of the Feed. Go to the Feed then tap Dismiss on the event.

Filter Activity events

You can filter events in Activity so it shows what you want.

Open the Google Home app .
Tap Activity .
Tap Filter at the top of the screen.
Use filters to specify the kind of activity you want to review.
Tap Show results.

Audio clips

Select a sound detection event in the Home app to open the audio clip captured by your speaker or display.

Delete an audio clip

Tap a sound detection event to open its audio clip.
Tap Options at the top right corner of the screen.
Select Delete audio clip.

Listen to live audio

If a smoke or carbon monoxide alarm or glass breaking event happened recently, you can use the Listen live feature to hear what your speaker or display is detecting.

When you begin to listen live, the device’s speaker will announce that someone is listening live.

Select a sound detection event to open its audio clip.
Tap Listen live. You’ll be able to listen to live audio for up to 3 minutes.

Use your phone to speak through your device

When you listen to live audio, you can use your phone to speak through your device. Tap the Microphone

, then speak. Tap it again to turn off the microphone when you're done.

Use emergency calling

Important: Make sure emergency calling is enabled in the Home app. If it’s disabled, you won’t see the option to use emergency calling. Learn how to use emergency calling.

If you're listening to live audio in the Home app, you can tap Emergency calling to call emergency services near your home.

Change settings for your speaker or display

Go to sound detection settings in the Google Home app:

Open the Google Home app .
Tap Settings Subscriptions Nest Aware.
Select Sound detection. From there, you’ll be able to change sound detection settings.

Turn sound detection on or off

Important: You need to turn on the microphone for your speaker or display for sound detection to work.

Once you turn sound detection on, you can:

Choose which sounds can be detected.
Select which speakers and displays participate in sound detection.

These settings will apply to everyone in your home. Home members cannot set their own sound detection preferences. However, each home member can set their own notification preferences.

Open the Google Home app .
Tap Settings Subscriptions Nest Aware.
Select Sound detection.
Turn Sound detection on or off.

Change which sounds you want to be detected

When you change which sounds you want to be detected, it will apply to all speakers and displays you have set with sound detection.

Open the Google Home app .
Tap Settings Subscriptions Nest Aware.
Select Sound detection.
Under “Sounds,” turn Smoke alarms, Carbon monoxide alarms, and Glass breaking on or off to set the sounds you want your device to detect.

Set which devices participate in sound detection

When you change which speakers and displays participate in sound detection, it will apply for all home members. A home member cannot individually set which devices participate in sound detection.

Open the Google Home app .
Tap Settings Subscriptions Nest Aware.
Select Sound detection.
Under “Devices,” tap the devices you want to turn sound detection on or off for.

Change notification settings

Each home member can choose whether to receive notifications when a device detects a smoke or carbon monoxide alarm or glass breaking in your home.

Open the Google Home app .
Tap Settings Subscriptions Nest Aware.
Select Sound detection Sound detection notifications.
Tap Smoke alarms, Carbon monoxide alarms, and Glass breaking to turn notifications on or off for each sound.

Troubleshoot

If sound detection isn’t working on your speaker or display, learn how to troubleshoot sound detection article.

_{Google Home Max does not support sound detection.}

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