Google Home now supports streaming video service Crackle so those with a Google Home or Google Home Mini can stream their video content through this service by asking Google to play something on Crackle. There are a few things users will need to make this work, of course. First and foremost, you’ll end up needing a device to stream the content to. This means you will either need a Chromecast that will connect to your phone and stream it to the TV that it’s plugged into, or you will need a TV with Android TV built-in or a standalone Android TV device that’s hooked up to your TV, as all of these devices support Crackle as well.
If you have the needed equipment and are ready to stream there are a handful of different controls you have by voice through Google Home, such as playing content, pausing content, skipping forward to the next episode, resume playback after pausing, and you can even open up the menu for turning on and turning off captions. You can also skip back in the current episode that you’re watching if you missed something and wanted to go back to make sure you catch it.
If you don’t have Crackle it’s a free service to set up unlike Netflix or other services that Google Home will support, so it’s an easy setup and it won’t cost you anything. With Crackle joining the support list, users have a fair amount of options for asking Google to stream movies and TV shows, though interestingly enough Google’s own movie and TV service, Google Play Movies, isn’t yet supported so you’ll still have to stream from your phone or watch it directly on the Android TV device and use the remote or controller to navigate and manage playback. For the time being this may only be available to U.S. Google Home owners, as Google’s support page doesn’t list whether or not Crackle support has come to other countries where Crackle is available as a service through other device types. For the time being, users who don’t live in the U.S. can always try to see if it works.