What you need to know.
- Google Home and Nest products suffered an issue that caused speakers and displays to become unresponsive this week.
- This problem particularly affected verbal commands, even “What’s the weather like?” Simple as that.
- Google says the issue should now be resolved for most users, and is investigating what caused the issue.
Google said today that it has fixed widespread problems with Google Home and Nest products that have plagued users for nearly a week by not responding to commands. First reported by Android Authoritythe issues left the Home and Nest speakers and displays unable to answer the most basic questions, such as the time or weather. The company is still investigating what’s causing the issues, but has confirmed that most users should no longer experience unresponsiveness.
“The team is still investigating the root cause but has resolved the issue, so all users should be prepared now,” a Google spokesperson explained.
The issues, which specifically affected voice commands, can be traced back to at least December 30 as evidenced by this. Posts On Google’s support forum (via 9to5Google). While the Nest Hub display in particular shows the correct weather and time, voice assistant requests stop when asking for the same information. The display showed a constant loading screen and could not respond to basic requests.
Google Home Mini (1st gen) suddenly just “keeps thinking” and does nothing? from r/googlehome
Some applications, such as smart home or media control, were still working. However, anything that requires a Home or Nest speaker or display will fail to get a response. Fortunately, it seems that the problems have been solved. Android Authority reported that its issues were no longer affecting its units, and Android Central tested that both its Google Home Hub and Nest Hub Max were able to respond to requests.
It’s unclear what caused Speaker and Display to be unable to respond to requests over the past week or so. The bug may be related to how Google Home and Nest products determine which requests to respond to. The support posts explain. People with multiple speakers or displays were badly affected.
Google support and Reddit posts have perpetuated users’ understandable frustration, but at least the issues seem to be getting resolved now.