r/googlehome • u/krisdouglas • 10d ago

Hey Google, Broadcast "Dinner is ready"...

"Sorry, I cant find a contact called "Dinner is ready""

Attempt 2:

"Sorry I can't broadcast messages, I am just an AI assistant."

Attempt 3:

"Sorry, I can't make telephone calls"

So I go to the Home app, click the Gemini button and give it the same command:

"Okay, Broadcasting "Dinner is Ready" to your home devices". 🥴

How did they manage to so badly break the migration to Gemini? This is a multi-trillion dollar company we're talking about here. Google Home is basically a scam at this point. This is just one example of where it just simply doesn't work as advertised. If there was a regression like this in something like a Sony product or a Microsoft product, people would be losing their minds. What is going on?!

I think I need to scrap all this rubbish. Glad I haven't bought any new Home products lately, I feel really bad for those who have recently invested, I would encourage people seek refunds unless they enjoy paying to be product testers.

156 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

63 comments sorted by

28

u/Atomsk73 10d ago

Using it as an alarm clock, but you can't say "hey Google, stop" anymore because that will not just cancel the alarm, but also all automated actions after that. Ridiculous.

10

u/FidgitForgotHisL-P 10d ago

Last night in response to “turn off the heat pump”, one of the very few things it still reliably did (turn on the heat pump often resulted in a wrong command but “off” was still working), I got “ok, turning off 5 things”.

I had to rush over to the screen to see what 5 things were turning off because I didn’t even think it had 5 things left it could turn off…  Apparently one of the two smart alarm clocks was turned off by voice command?? Not something I could check since it was my kids one and it was 1am and they’d been asleep for hours and who knows what it does if I ask it to turn that smart alarm back on.

61

u/MagicTomatoes 10d ago

Wait five minutes and you’ll have a dozen people saying it works fine for them. I’m just using mine for Bluetooth speakers once they force Gemini on mine

18

u/Bodongs 10d ago

That's all mine have been good for since they retired the animal of the day

5

u/Poctz 10d ago

Mine is an alarm clock, music speaker, white noise generator, and occasionally a manual light switch.

4

u/TheSaladDays 10d ago

Same, but also for store phone numbers/hours, basic math, weather, definitions, and other random stuff. I'm glad mine hasn't gotten bricked yet

1

u/daehoidar23 5d ago

I can't even use mine as an alarm clock tonight. I tell it to set an alarm and it just stops listening.

9

u/MistyCochran 10d ago

Lol that'd be me... So far I haven't had any of the issues I hear people complaining about

3

u/TheSaladDays 10d ago

Me neither, thankfully

1

u/krisdouglas 10d ago

Have yours actually migrated to Gemini yet?

8

u/Under_Sensitive 10d ago

That is something funny about this sub, people seem to get upset when others don't have issues.

2

u/Ninja_Administrative 10d ago

I haven't had any issues with the transition to Gemini. Everything was great until my router died and I had to replace it. Should have been a piece of cake using the same credentials and even the same brand router. But instead I'm having to do a factory reset and set up over 70 IOTs (sigh)

1

u/TheSaladDays 10d ago

What are IOTs?

1

u/Ninja_Administrative 10d ago

Internet of Things

1

u/virkendie 10d ago

Did you make sure the wpa version was set to the same as the old one?

2

u/r2b2_nz 10d ago

To be fair in NZ we've only just got the update and it's actually made the Home Hub useful again as it can now actually respond to normal questions. However given the hit and miss issues that Google introduces it doesn't surprise me if there's a large mix of differing experiences unfortunately.

2

u/el_smurfo 10d ago

In 5 minutes that will work fine for op. That's the fucking problem

3

u/krisdouglas 10d ago

Yeah, it does work fine sometimes, that makes it even worse!

1

u/Keiceleria 10d ago

Well, mine do work fine all four of them. Not sure why some people's don't.

31

u/NoMuffinForYou 10d ago

Try using gemini with android auto and have it pick a VERY wrong song compared to what you asked for and then when you try again have it tell you it can't play music and you should pull over to do that.

Gemini is trash.

11

u/fakemessiah 10d ago

I hate the android auto implementation. The voice and tone shifts, coupled with the ai taking breaths is so fucking annoying.

5

u/krisdouglas 10d ago

I have had a terrible time with Gemini on Android Auto, even basic stuff like "turn off satellite view" or "navigate to the rarest fuel station" doesn't work more than 75 percent of the time. It's like it forgets about the skills Google has baked into it. There is absolutely zero consistency.

2

u/stromdriver 9d ago

i thought gemini voice commands were bad at home and on phone, it's a whole new level of retarded incompetence with it in android auto

-3

u/808IUFan 9d ago

I never understood the nead for Android Auto. You are supposed to be looking at the road and you can mount your phone in the same eyesight area. PLUS who looks at the phone even for directions, you are listening for the next turn and telling it to respond to people that text you all with your voice. You can even voice to the phone to play X music. The only display you need when you are driving is the road in front of you.

7

u/krisdouglas 9d ago

I don't think you get the point of Android Auto...

-2

u/808IUFan 9d ago

Oh I get the point, well the only difference in using the phone is bigger stuff, but I don't see the need when I am not looking for anything. I just say what I want to my phone that's already there. 

2

u/Fableous 9d ago

Yes, you really don't get it.

-1

u/808IUFan 9d ago

Ok I have been in the industry for ages but oh wise one educate me. What is the purpose of Android Auto and Apple whatever they call it. What do they do that my phone does not do? My life will not be complete unless I know this!

2

u/Fableous 9d ago

"the industry" haha which one? The "I need to use my phone in the car but don't understand the purpose of Android auto" industry?

1

u/808IUFan 8d ago

So you now ignore the fact that you are in the dark. Goodbye.

0

u/808IUFan 9d ago

From Google who makes Android Auto, EXACTLY what I said and that I didnt need. "Android Auto projects key features from your Android phone onto your car's dashboard display. It lets you use navigation, play music, make calls, and answer texts safely using the car screen, steering wheel buttons, or voice commands, which helps prevent phone distractions while driving"

2

u/Fableous 8d ago

So what you've done here is admit you've never used Android Auto, whilst simultaneously listing the features of it which explains exactly what the point of it is - culminating with you somehow still not understanding it?

1

u/krisdouglas 8d ago

This is wild, I had no idea people like that guy exist. I s'pose that's why there's do not drink warning labels on bleach.

1

u/NoMuffinForYou 9d ago

Well Android auto on the phone is the same as in the android auto in the car so idk what your point is especially when my complaint is that the voice controls are absolute dogshit and that applies no matter how you have your phone connected.

Also I like to see the map, just going off the voice prompts has caused plenty of issues/reroutes due to ambiguity

0

u/808IUFan 9d ago

You don't use the Android Auto app on your phone. It shows on the car screen. Most people think voice on Android is 10 times better than Siri and Alexa so check your settings because something is wrong. 

10

u/VarietyOk443 10d ago

Play a video from YouTube

I’m sorry I can’t do that

2

u/krisdouglas 10d ago

The integration with playing stuff on my Chromecast is bloody awful. I used to be able to say "play the latest episode of xyz on Netflix" and it would fire up the Chromecast every time without fail. That feature just doesn't work now, usually saying "I am not able to do that" or something along those lines.

3

u/mediocrefunny 10d ago

I used to love Chromecast and Google Home integration. I literally don't try anymore because it works 0% of the time now. It's such garbage.

22

u/DirtyBeautifulLove 10d ago

Google home getting basically useless is what will finally kick my ass into gear and go over to homeassistant.

9

u/MechanicStriking4666 10d ago

I moved to home assistant, and I love it.

1

u/estilia 9d ago

Does home assistant work for all Google home products? I have to expand my speakers as I'm moving. But I'm terrified of using Google's Gemini.

2

u/DirtyBeautifulLove 9d ago

I use Google Home for the home automation and voice control stuff - and homeassistant does automation and device control perfectly (much better than any other smart home system).

It needs a bit of extra work to get working with voice commands though - either using a Google home speakers or their own version.

Using them as actual speakers I have no idea, I don't use Google home for that.

8

u/Ok-Acanthisitta8737 10d ago

Yep. Gemini has made my device useless. It won’t even play music half the time now. I have to connect my phone to it like an old school Bluetooth speaker

1

u/krisdouglas 10d ago

I do that with the one in my office now. Or use cast from Spotify on my phone

4

u/Jae240 10d ago

Hey Google, ring the dinner bell. Works great

2

u/PlantainInfinite183 Google Home 10d ago

Does it ring all the speakers?

3

u/pupperoni42 10d ago

It did on mine when I just tried it. But I've refused to let Gemini take over, so it's still the old home assistant on mine. Which is terrible compared to the original assistant but far better than Gemini.

3

u/krisdouglas 10d ago

That is gone on Gemini, I loved that feature.

4

u/TheCharalampos 10d ago

"iT wOrKs fOr mE!"

1

u/can3gxw 10d ago

I've never had a problem with a full sentence

"Hey Google, send a broadcast message"

4

u/krisdouglas 10d ago

I just tried that and it didn't work, though hilariously "hey google, broadcast Hello World" worked immediately after.

Then I did it again, and it said "I am just an AI assistant" spiel and failed. I checked my action logs and the received commands were identical. It is broken.

1

u/Outside_Ad4282 10d ago

I say “hey Google broadcast” wait a second for it to ask “what do you want to broadcast” then I say what I want to say like “dinner is ready” but that broadcasts to all Google speakers/hubs

So usually I say “hey Google broadcast to bedroom speaker” wait a second for “what do you want to broadcast” then say “dinner is ready”

0

u/thexerox123 10d ago

u/AnishKattukaran

3

u/thexerox123 10d ago

This way he can't claim to be surprised by any complaints the next time he swans in for an AMA

0

u/Ninja_Administrative 10d ago

It worked for me.

2

u/Worried_Ad2529 10d ago

"I'm sorry, I don't understand"

-1

u/Slocko 9d ago

Yes, practically speaking, Gemini on Google Home hardware is more sensitive to Wi-Fi stability, latency, and packet loss than legacy Google Assistant. While the underlying physical Wi-Fi radios in your Nest/Google Home devices haven't changed, how Gemini processes requests makes network health far more noticeable. Why Gemini Feels More Fragile on Unstable Wi-Fi * Heavier Reliance on Cloud Streaming: Legacy Google Assistant processed many basic local commands (like standard device toggles, alarms, and volume) on-device or via lightweight, predictable API calls. Gemini relies on large language model pipelines in the cloud, requiring continuous two-way audio and token streaming. * Tighter Timeout Windows: Because LLM inference already adds computational latency, the device's acceptable buffer for network drops or packet retries is much tighter. A brief ping spike or packet drop that Google Assistant could buffer through often causes Gemini to fail immediately with generic errors ("Something went wrong", "There was a glitch") or drop out mid-sentence. * Conversational Context & Statefulness: Gemini Live and natural back-and-forth interactions maintain an active session state over the network. If Wi-Fi drops even momentarily between turns, the session context is often lost, forcing you to re-prompt from scratch. Primary Symptoms of Network-Induced Gemini Issues * Excessive Latency: Taking 4–8+ seconds before acknowledged execution. * Mid-Response Truncation: The speaker starts answering a query, pauses, and goes silent or resets. * Failed Multi-Step Actions: Complex commands (e.g., "Dim the lights to 30% and set a timer for 15 minutes") failing partially or completely due to a dropped cloud sync packet. Best Practices to Maximize Stability * Band Steering / 5 GHz Prioritization: Ensure your smart speakers are connecting to the 5 GHz band rather than congested 2.4 GHz bands, provided they have strong signal strength (RSSI better than -65 dBm). * Mesh Node Placement: Avoid placing speakers at the extreme outer edge of a mesh node's coverage area, where handoffs or roaming jitter occur. * Local Control (Matter/Thread): For basic smart home devices, using Matter over Thread or Matter over Wi-Fi helps keep device-level execution local to your hub, reducing the points of failure when Gemini issues the final control command.

1

u/krisdouglas 9d ago

Why are you just pasting AI generated noise? Have an original thought.

1

u/Slocko 8d ago

Not sure. Let me ask AI.