How To Add a Second Roku Option to Google Home – A Full Guide

If you have a Roku device, you may crave the convenience of being able to control the device using voice commands.

Yet, how do you get the two devices set up if you have two or more Rokus?

Here’s how to add a second Roku option to Google Home:

1. Unlink any already connected Roku devices.
2. Update your Roku devices to the latest version.
3. Ensure your Roku devices are connected to your Roku account.
4. Add new and existing Roku devices to Google home.

In this article, I’ll provide details to this simple step-by-step guide to help you add a second Roku option to Google Home.

I’ll also explain some common issues you may encounter after connecting your Roku devices and share any solutions available.

1. Unlink Any Already Connected Roku Devices

Any Rokus you’ve connected to your Google Home device prior to Google starting to support multiples of the same device will prevent you from properly setting either of your devices up.

This is because of the changes that have been made to Google Home. It’s not ideal, but it’s understandable.

To stop this from happening, you’ll need to unlink them completely.

Here’s how:

1. Go into your Google Home app
2. Open the device settings for your Roku
3. Select “unlink”
4. Wait until you receive a confirmation message

2. Update Your Roku Devices to the Latest Version

Next, you’ll need to update your Rokus so that they, too, receive the relevant fixes needed to connect to Google Home.

This is essential, because without these updates, they might not be able to connect in tandem.

Here’s how to update your Rokus to the latest version:

1. On your Roku devices, open your settings. The button will be in the top left menu.
2. Choose “system updates” in the menu that follows.
3. Press the “check now” button.
4. Wait while the device checks for updates. If it finds any, it’ll update automatically. If there are none to be found, it’ll notify you it’s up-to-date.

3. Ensure Your Roku Devices Are Connected to Your Roku Account

Before you continue, your Rokus must be connected to your Roku account.

If not, they won’t be capable of linking up.

If you haven’t done this yet, you can find instructions for how to connect your device to your account on Roku Support.

4. Add New and Existing Roku Devices to Google Home

Here’s how to add your Roku devices to Google Home:

1. Click the “add” button at the top of the Google Home app.
2. Then, choose “set up device”.
3. On the following page, choose “works with Google”.
4. Scroll down and select “Roku”. If you haven’t activated your Roku or connected it to your Roku account, do that before going any farther.
5. Sign into your Roku Account. 
6. Select the relevant Rokus connected to your Roku account. You can select more than one during this step, so make sure you do. You shouldn’t need to repeat the process more than once.

Common Issues With Rokus and Google Home

Google Home wasn’t always capable of connecting to multiple Roku devices by itself.

While you could connect one Roku device just fine, connecting multiple required you to use another, alternative smart home hub called SmartThings. 

Yet this was a problem, as SmartThings is a completely separate service from Google Home.

Thus, this required you to buy a whole new smart home system, which is expensive and might even make your Google Home purchase redundant.

Thankfully, Google Home has updated and now fully supports connecting multiple Rokus with no third-party apps.

However, it’s yet to be perfect and isn’t without a few issues. 

Here are the most common issues users experience with Rokus and Google Home:

Voice Commands Aren’t Enabled Automatically

New Roku and Google Home users tend to expect that voice commands will be enabled automatically for their devices.

This is only natural, but it isn’t always the case.

Typically, after connecting your Rokus, your attempts to use voice commands won’t work.

If this happens to you, try the following:

1. Open your Google Home app.
2. Go to your Roku devices’ settings.
3. Flip the little switch to enable voice commands for your Roku device.

Should this switch be unflipped –either by an update or some other failure– your voice commands will probably stop working again.

So be sure to keep this fix in mind for later.

Accepted Voice Commands Are Extremely Specific

Multiple users have spoken up about how Roku’s extremely specific voice commands impede their usage of their device. 

In order to get your Roku to follow your commands, you’ll need to say the right phrase exactly as it was programmed by its developers.

Time can only tell if Roku will address this or if using Rokus with voice commands will remain this user-unfriendly.

In the meantime, there isn’t much you can do other than keep a print-out of the exact voice commands nearby.

You could also consider using an alternative smart home hub, like SmartThings.

The Roku Can’t Be Assigned to a House or Room

If you try to assign your Rokus to a house or room in Google Home, either before or after you link them, you may receive an error.

It won’t be assigned properly, and trying may even freeze the Google Home app, requiring you to restart it.

There is no fix for this issue as of the time of this article.

You’ll need to leave your Roku devices unassigned for now and hope Google Home eventually updates with a fix, or switch to a competing smart home hub such as SmartThings.

Final Thoughts

To connect a second Roku option to Google Home, it’s as simple as unlinking the old device and adding in the new one.

Also, be sure to update all devices and connect everything to your Roku account.

After adding a second Roku, common issues include voice commands not working or being extremely specific and the Rokus being unable to be assigned to a house or room. I hope this helps!