Google Acknowledges Smart Home Issues, Promises Major Improvements Amid User Frustration

Google Promises a Smart Home Fix, Apologizes For Assistant Troubles

Google Home's experience has taken a step backward in recent years. Many users have banded together in the last week to issue complaints about how some of the system's key features have been broken without any clear sign of a fix from Google. Now, a Google executive working on smart home has acknowledged problems with its Home speakers and other gadgets. He has also confirmed the company is actively working on a fix. "I want to acknowledge the recent feedback about Google Assistant reliability on our home devices," said Anish Kattukaran, Chief Product officer at Google Home and Nest. "I sincerely apologize for what you're experiencing and feeling!" "We hear you loud and clear and are committed to getting this right -- and making sure we have a long term solution that provides better reliability and capability. We have been actively working on major improvements for sometime and will have more to share in the fall." This sentiment has been growing over the last few years as Google's attention has moved away from Assistant and over to its Gemini AI. The tipping point for Google to comment appears to come from social media after the company introduced a price hike for its Nest Aware subscription. Google announced last week that from mid-August a Nest Aware subscription will increase by $2 a month and Nest Aware Plus will jump up $5 a month. That's the second price hike in the last two years, and some customers are clearly frustrated as they've found the experience of their products has become worse. A popular Reddit thread from July 21 brings together many examples of how Google's smart home products have more limited functionality now. One reply said, "On the weekend I asked it to play classic vinyl which I've been doing mostly without issue on SiriusXM for years. This time it plays a band on Spotify called "classic vinyl" and the song called "AOC." Another said, "Mine just stopped responding to voice commands altogether recently and started randomly pinging intermittently." One user even found they wanted to stop using the products saying, "They've gotten so bad I've unplugged them." The "major improvements" Kattukaran's comments allude to may include the long anticipated inclusion of Google Gemini on its smart speakers. It has taken the brand a long time to fold the chatbot assistant into its smart home operation, and it's unclear what has caused that delay. Google has confirmed its hosting a Pixel event on August 20 where we'll be introduced to the Pixel 10 series. It's unlikely we'll hear about new Google Home improvements at that event though as Kattukaran said it's coming in the fall. Expect to hear more in September or later.

Google Assistant's been having a rough few weeks. Here's Google's response

A Google exec is promising "major improvements" for Google Assistant on smart home devices following a spike in user complaints. Nope, it's not just you: Reports of Google Assistant strugglng to perform even basic smart home commands have been surging in recent weeks, and now Google is admitting that something's amiss. The lead executive for Google's Home and Nest division tweeted on X that he's heard the complaints "loud and clear" and revealed that his team is "actively working on major improvements." "I want to acknowledge the recent feedback about Google Assistant reliability on our home devices," said Anish Kattukaran, the director of product management for Google Home and Nest. "I sincerely apologize for what you're experiencing and feeling!" Kattukaran's assurances come after a steep rise in complaints about Google Assistant on Google's Nest speakers and displays. Some users have been reporting that their Assistant routines have stopped working, while others say their Assistant-enabled devices have lost contact with smart lights, fail to play Spotify playlists, or can no longer control their Chromecast streaming devices with voice commands. "We hear you loud and clear and are committed to getting this right - and making sure we have a long-term solution that provides better reliability and capability," Katturkaran promised. Kattukaran's statement on X come during a turbulent time for Google Assistant, which is gradually being phased out to make way for Gemini. Google kicked off a test of Gemini on Google Nest speakers late last year, before announcing in March that a "new experience powered by Gemini" will soon replace Google Assistant on Google's smart devices. In the meantime, Google has been quietly shedding features from Google Assistant and dropping support for some key Nest smart products, including its first- and second-generation Nest Learning Thermostats. Google has also discontinued its Nest Protect smoke and carbon monoxide alarm and Nest x Yale Lock and handed off the development of further devices in those product categories to third parties. Of course, Google isn't the only company facing a difficult transition period for its voice assistants. Alexa is in the middle of a glacially slow rollout of its AI-enhanced Alexa+, with mixed success. Meanwhile, Apple's rumored smart hub has been reportedly delayed until next year due to speedbumps with Siri's AI makeover. In any event, Google has been promising big things for Google Home in the fall, including new devices and -- presumably -- this "new experience powered by Gemini" that we've been heading about. Sounds good, but at the rate things are going for Google Assistant and Google's Home efforts in general, these promised autumn improvements couldn't come a moment too soon.

Google Home speaker debacle worsens with more failures -- lawsuit imminent

Last week, Google acknowledged the mounting frustration withs some of the best Google Home speakers and promised "major improvements." Not even a week later and it sounds like the issues are getting worse. The problems appeared to be related to Google Assistant, the current voice assistant that Google is going to replace with Gemini AI. The assistant has already been losing features ahead of its successor. Aniah Kattukaran, the Chief Product Officer for Google Home Nest, admitted to problems on X. "We hear you loud and clear and are committed to getting this right -- and making sure we have a long term solution that provides better reliability and capability," he wrote. He added that the company is working on major improvements and would have more to share in the fall. Unfortunately, the bugs are occurring now and people are not interested in waiting. Despite acknowledging the problems, users are unhappy and Android Police found a Reddit thread on the Google Home subreddit with people reporting that voice controls for smart lights were totally out of commission. Usually device subreddits are filled with questions about products or attempts to solve problems but a glance through the Google Home subreddit shows a number of posts complaining about voice controls. It's so bad that an official Google moderator for the subreddit popped into that post twice in response to complaints. "We're aware of an issue with using voice commands to control some lights. We'll share an update as soon as possible, thanks for your patience," they wrote. Another response from June 28 claimed that a fix for the issue was being rolled out, though it was tempered with "some users might still be experiencing issues." One frustrated user commented, "You're not adding features..so how do you manage to screw up the old ones that worked?" Not something you want to see when Google has already promised to fix the problem. These complaints have gotten so so bad that a potential lawsuit may be in the works. The law firm Kaplan Gore announced (via TechRadar) that it is looking into a possible class action suit against Google for "failing to remedy increasing problems with its Google Home service." With so many complaints rolling in, Kaplan Gore says that "rather than fixing these issues, Google is allowing the issues with Google Home to increase in scale and frequency nationwide." The law firm is asking affected customers to fill out a form where they can explain what problems they are having with Google Home. That information would help the firm decide if it has grounds for pursuing a lawsuit. Unfortunately, it looks like Google's Home problems may get worse before they get better.

Google apologizes and promises 'major improvements' in response to Home speaker debacle

Google has acknowledged mounting frustration from customers with some of the best Google Home speakers and promised "major improvements" are coming. The issue seems to stem from Google Assistant -- the voice assistant that Google is in the process of killing off to make way for Gemini AI. It seems people using products like the $99 Google Nest Audio are finding the voice functionality disintegrating right now -- with the products only sporadically responding to commands. Anish Kattukaran, the Chief Product Officer for Google Home and Nest, has admitted as such on X and said the company is working on a long term solution. "Hey everyone, I want to acknowledge the recent feedback about Google Assistant reliability on our home devices," he wrote. "I sincerely apologize for what you're experiencing and feeling! "We hear you loud and clear and are committed to getting this right -- and making sure we have a long term solution that provides better reliability and capability. We have been actively working on major improvements for [some time] and will have more to share in the fall." An apology is always nice to receive, but Kattukaran's response seems a little vague on the details. Only teasing "major improvements" that are coming "in the fall" doesn't exactly help anyone right now. Users that have spent under $50 on a Google Nest Mini may be willing to look past the dodgy functionality but if you've dropped over $200 on a Google Nest Hub Max, it's harder to swallow. The writing has been on the wall for Google Assistant and Google has been trying to formulate Gemini's eventual takeover for a while now -- but the process has been anything but smooth. A year ago, when Gemini first got access to Google Assistant routines, a number of routines didn't carry across. Users also couldn't trigger routines with typed commands, scheduled times, location-based activation, or home screen shortcuts. Actions like playing music, sharing fitness data or reciting poems weren't supported, either. Meanwhile, Google continued to sunset features of the legacy Assistant, which launched back in the dark ages of 2016. In March, it stopped being able to share photos via voice commands, or adjust photo frame settings using your voice. "To continue our work of building the world's most helpful assistant, we've reimagined the experience with AI at its core to make Gemini your personal, AI-powered assistant," the company said in a blog post at the time. "While our expectations for what an assistant can do are rapidly changing, the mission remains the same." Which is all well and good because Gemini is undoubtedly one of the best AI chatbots, but degrading hardware for an unspecified amount of time to make room for it isn't going to engender much faith among customers. If you're a Google Home user and have been experiencing issues with performance, let us know about it in the comments below.