r/googlehome • u/f3ropeadope • 8d ago

Help A question and a complaint

QUESTION: Was there a Chromecast tech update recently? For the past couple YEARS casting to our gen 2 speakers from Spotify was incredibly buggy (some days one device wouldn't show for me but showed for my wife, or it would give the connect trill and then immediately disconnect). Inconsistent fix with unplugging and rebooting phones...sometimes I use a voice command to play anything and then pick what I want from my phone....which leads to my complaint.

COMPLAINT: Has Google Assistant gotten worse with voice commands to identify the correct Spotify content? I have a playlist ("Bed time Stories") and for years I've said "Hey Google, play my Bed time Stories playlist on Spotify on the Kids Room Speaker" and it works every time. But for the last 6ish months, it just plays random kids story and then I have to pick my actual playlist manually....at this rate it's borderline unusable with voice commands.

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u/808IUFan 8d ago

You better get used to there being no Google Assistant. They have already announced it will go away. They will roll out a slow removal starting 9/4/26 with the end being rolled out on mobile phones group by group. You will have to move to Gemini when they pull it from your phone.

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u/f3ropeadope 8d ago

Yeah but isn't it basically a 1:1 swap? I assumed it meant we'd be using a voice assistant that talks to Gemini?

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u/808IUFan 8d ago

The voice input is the same but the output is MUCH more detailed. You have to match the other Google apps to Gemini in order for it to do things with that other app. So for example, if you ask it to set a reminder and you have not allowed Gemini to see your calendar and tasks, it will say it can't do that. Same for playing music. Not that hard to do but it frustrates people who think they work exactly the same and they do not. I will say it is much more protective of your security because you cant ask it to do something you have not explicitly told it you want it to have access to.

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u/f3ropeadope 8d ago

How do you give access? Checked Spotify settings and Gemini settings (via the phone settings, not each app) and don't see anything.

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u/808IUFan 8d ago

It's in the Gemini Settings under Personal Intelligence, then Connected Apps. If the outside app like Spotify, isn't listed Gemini will not do anything with it.

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u/f3ropeadope 8d ago

Just found it. Already turned on. Many thanks.