Google Home smart speakers used to be the clear-cut winners in the virtual assistant device category.However, if you’ve been using Nest smart home devices recently, you’ve probably noticed a significant drop in quality.This has been happening to a lot of people for a long time, and the company knows it.
Over in the Google Home subreddit, there have been many complaints about Nest smart devices failing at things they used to be able to do easily.This isn’t only a Gemini problem, either.It’s been happening with Google Assistant, too.
One particularly frustrated Redditor has been sending “at least 10 feedbacks” every time it fails a command, and Google finally responded.A Google support agent acknowledged that the voice assistants aren’t working for many people, regardless of if they upgraded to Gemini.They also admitted it’s been months without a solution, but there will be a fix eventually.
The Redditor did not provide a full transcript of the conversation, but they said the agent “made it seem like there's now 2 different systems behind the scenes and they're not working together.” Related Assistant isn’t dead yet: Google backtracks on its Gemini timeline Google is running behind.Posts By Joe Fedewa Now, this is all based on a Redditor’s word, but it matches Google’s previous comments on this issue.Last July, the chief product officer for Google Home, Anish Kattukaran, acknowledged that they were receiving feedback about “Google Assistant reliability” on smart home devices.
He said they were working on a “long-term solution,” and there would be more to share in the Fall.Several Google Home updates arrived late last year, but these “reliability” problems haven’t gone away.Personally, I use Google Home smart speakers every day, and I can firmly attest to the fact that they’ve gotten worse.
I recently asked when a nearby store opens—something I’ve done countless times in the past—and Google Assistant simply would not do it.Before I could even complete the sentence, “Hey Google, what time does Kohl’s open?”, Assistant would interrupt and tell me the current time.That’s just one example among plenty of other times where it’s utterly failed and simple commands it used to be able to handle.
As mentioned, this doesn’t only happen with Gemini—I haven’t upgraded, and I’m still getting a worse experience.The company has been aware of these problems for months, and we still don’t have a clear answer on when a fix will come.How-To Geek Report: Subscribe and never miss what matters Unlock your tech-savvy potential and master the digital world with How-To Geek.
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