What you need to know
- Google Home and Nest products experienced an issue that led speakers and displays to become unresponsive this week.
- The problem specifically affected verbal commands, even those as simple as “What’s the weather?”.
- Google says the issue should be resolved for most users now, and is investigating what caused the problem.
Google said today it resolved widespread issues with Google Home and Nest products not responding to commands that plagued users for nearly a week. First reported by Android Authority, the problems left Home and Nest speakers and displays incapable of answering even the most basic questions, like the time or the weather. The company is still investigating what caused the problems, but confirmed most users shouldn’t experience the unresponsiveness now.
“The team is still investigating the root cause but have resolved the issue, so all users should be up and running now,” a Google spokesperson explained.
The problems, which specifically affected voice commands, can be traced back to at least Dec. 30 as evidenced by posts on Google’s support forum (via 9to5Google). Although the Nest Hub displays in particular showed the correct weather and time, the voice assistant requests would hang up when asking for the same information. The displays showed a perpetual loading screen and couldn’t respond to basic requests.
Google Home Mini (1st Gen) Suddenly just keeps “thinking” and doesn’t do anything? from r/googlehome
Certain requests, like smart home or media control, were still functional. However, anything that required a Home or Nest speaker or display to fetch a response would fail. Luckily, it appears that the issues are resolved. Android Authority reported that its issues were no longer affecting its units, and Android Central tested that its Google Home Hub and Nest Hub Max were both able to respond to requests.
It’s unclear what caused the speakers and displays to become unable to respond to requests over the last week or so. The bug could be related to how Google Home and Nest products decide which one will respond to requests, as support posts indicate people with multiple speakers or displays were adversely affected.
Google support and Reddit posts chronicled the understandable frustration of users, but at least the issues appear to be resolved for now.
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