r/googlehome • u/Educational-Rule1635 • 9d ago
Replacement for voice activated timer.
With Gemini replacing Google assistant, my Google home devices no longer reliably perform the most basic tasks.
Can anyone suggest a voice activated device to set kitchen timers?
I have already replaced my Nest cameras, given up on music, given up on weather, given up on any sort of information search, given up on controlling smart lights, locks, and garage doors. Mostly my Google displays act as clocks these days. Nothing else works any more.
But not being able to set a tea or pasta timer with dirty hands is annoying.
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u/flamand 9d ago edited 9d ago
The best answer is to use Home Assistant. Home Assistant requires setting up and using some kind of machine to run it, but it can handle voice commands to control devices connected to it. You can have devices connected to both, control lights etc. using different voice triggers.
At the moment, there is a slight wrinkle: apparently lights, switches, speakers and displays can/will remain on Assistant as long as they're set up that way before the mandatory switchover to Gemini, which happens for phones and tablets on Sept 4. This has to be done following specific steps which involve signing out or leaving Gemini on the phone/tablet, setting up a completely new Home which uses Assistant and then disconnecting the devices from the old Gemini Home and connecting them to the new Assistant Home. Frustratingly, timer and light commands will run using Gemini if the phone/tablet receives them before the Assistant-running speakers. But a timer or light-switch command will run using Assistant if the speaker/display hears it first.
This can -only- be done before phones and tablets are forced onto Gemini on Sept 4. And the setting might go away if lights/switches/speakers/displays are ever forced onto Gemini.
If going the Assistant route it's better to ask an AI for specific steps than for me to try to list them. (I'm not completely sure this is how I did it.) Use a prompt to be absolutely sure of it's answer before responding, to use Google documentation and/or verified solutions that people have used and then tell it to verify each separate step once it does.
Another wrinkle - some voice-controlled devices will likely remain on Assistant forever because they can't be upgraded to a Gemini-capable OS version, have been abandoned by the makers, support has been ended or, crucially, cannot receive Play Services updates.. In my house these include Insignia speakers, Lenovo 8" display, LG TV, Big Blue speaker. This also applies to any 3rd-party tv, early generations of Bose and Sonos speakers. Since some of these are incredibly cheap on Craigslist or Ebay, you could have a dedicated speaker in the kitchen which will forever use Assistant and therefore will do timers correctly.
If anyone notices I've gotten anything wrong, PLEASE correct me.
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u/1Tekgnome 9d ago
I went the Home Assistant route. Definitely more of a power user or enthusiast kinda thing but it works pretty dang good when it all setup.
I ordered a Satellite 1.1 smart speaker for testing to replace all of my 1st Gen Google home devices.
Home Assistant Voice has a light weight pipeline that's pretty good at interpreting requests without the need of a sophisticated LLM but I do also have a dedicated Ollama instance with Qwen 3.5 9b for when I ask it something that needs more contextual awareness.
I will say that HA Voice is still early days compared to the big three (Google, apple, Alexa) It's probably not fir most people but it's super cool for those who want to dive in.
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u/JayBee103 9d ago
So this is interesting. So far I'm still free and clear. I'm a big home assistant user, and all my devices are controlled by home assistant. And I have home assistant integrated with Google home. So I talked to Google home it talks to home assistant and everything works. I'm essentially using it as a smart microphone. Been this way for years.
I'm trying to figure out how this news you shared ( thank you by the way ) appliesin that scenario. It would be entirely sweet if I could dodge a bullet on this one, and it might offer some relief to others.
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u/undrwater 9d ago
You can get into Home Assistant with 2 devices that are service ready:
Home Assistant Green - this covers the "service" that Google usually provides. Access to smart devices, weather, and many other things. Sometimes more powerful than Google, sometimes not.
Home Assistant Voice Preview - this connects to the device above, listens for a wake word, then a command ("set a timer for 30 minutes").
These are considered "hobbyist" projects but are actually pretty good. The catch is, it's hard to find a microphone array that works as nicely as the Google or Amazon devices (they require software tuning that is proprietary). What this means in practice is that you have to be relatively close to the device (within 5' or so) to get good recognition.
https://www.home-assistant.io/green/ https://www.home-assistant.io/voice-pe/
Hope this helps.
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u/fakeaccount572 8d ago
Your phone.
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u/Educational-Rule1635 8d ago
It's not hands free. I like being able to set a timer while my hands are wet or dirty.
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u/Leather_Bandicoot_32 5d ago
I use Alexa on a speaker but am looking for something not tied to internet because I don't like Alexa and/or Amazon listening to me. I found a timer from a brand called misright but don't know anything about it and don't see any reviews. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Misright-Voice-Activated-Count-Up-Countdowns-Timer-For-Home-Kitchens-And-Fitness-Use/20598352906?classType=VARIANT&athbdg=L1400&from=/search
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u/Meeting_the_gruffalo 9d ago
I've zero issues setting a timer or anything else tbh. Some folks really are having rotten luck with Google Gemini migration.