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After not having success with using the Google Home App to pair with the Philips Hue Starter Kit, we then turned to Google Assistant on the Google Pixel to see if it could help us. Fortunately, it responded with a link to open Home Control settings which normally would be quite buried and hard for the user to find.

   

Once we opened up the Home Control Setting within Google Assistant, we found ourselves in the Home Control Devices sub-screen. We then selected the plus icon on the bottom right to add a device.  

 

After selecting Philips Hue, we were taken to a browser page where we could log in with our Philips Hue account.

  

Once logged in, we could see the lights that we had set up previously but had to set up the Rooms that could be recognized by Google.

   

 

With the Philips Hue devices now paired with Google Assistant, we could see the devices and rooms set up in the Home control screen and also use voice commands to control those lights.

  

You can also access the Home control settings directly by sliding right the Google symbol on the home screen of the Google Pixel, selecting the three horizontal bars on the top left to open up Settings, and selecting Google Assistant Settings.

    

You can also reach there by starting Google Assistant, and selecting the three dots on the top right to open up Settings.

   

Like other voice command services like Alexa, you can also go to Google to check what voice commands you have given and check to they have been recognized and the correct actions have been executed.

Google Assistant is one of the most complete and sophisticated voice based services out there and not surprisingly plays a leading role in voice based search. However, figuring out where to set up smart home devices and how to automate them doesn't seem as clear for the average user.