Google's Nest Hub will display air quality levels as wildfire season continues

Google is updating its Nest Hub displays with a new feature that displays the air quality index (AQI), Android Central has reported. The feature will appear on the weather widget, showing a numeric ranking from 0 to 500 and color coding from green (good) to maroon (hazardous). Google is taking the data from the US government's AQI site used by the EPA to monitor air quality across the US.

Along with the AQI index and colors in the weather widget, Nest display owners can also ask Google Assistant for air quality information by saying "what's the air quality near me" or something similar. You can also ask Assistant to give alerts when the air quality your location drops to unsafe levels, a feature that could be handy for folks with respiratory problems.

The feature is rolling out as wildfires rage across the western United States, particularly in Oregon and California. "Between wildfire season and recent increased efforts to reduce air pollution, it’s more important than ever to know about the air quality in your area," Google said in a Nest community update.

The update will be rolling out in select markets "over the coming weeks," hopefully in those regions affected by wildfires and smoke. In our review, we called the $100 Nest Hub (2nd generation) "a great smart display and mediocre sleep tracker."