Popular Google gadgets ‘rendered useless’ for days as furious users yell ‘I won’t be buying anymore’
POPULAR Google gadgets have been “rendered useless” for days as furious users yell “I won’t be buying anymore”.
Google Nest and Google Home speakers and displays are refusing to answer basic questions such as “what time is it?”
The issue is said to have started on December 30, 2024, online forums suggest.
The gadgets, which usually respond to vocal commands have been reported by their owners for going silent on them.
One person took to X, formerly known as Twitter to share the issue.
They wrote: “Came home to my Google Nest audio not responding.
“Googled troubleshooting since it wasn’t responding to a factory reset and ended up on the phone with Support for 20mins just for them to tell me it’s out of warranty and nothing can be done.
“This is the second time I’ve had issues..”
They added: “Needless to say, Google, I wont be buying any more devices for my house since two of my products don’t last longer than 32 days – 3 years.
“I haven’t heard of any issues like this with my friends who have Amazon and Alexa in their homes.”
The person also revealed they had the same issue with their Google Mini that automatically stopped working after 32 days.
A day later, another Nest owner sought answers from Google Assistant, on January 1, 2025.
They wrote: “All of my Nest speakers stopped being able to answer simple questions like ‘What time is it’.”
The person claimed their Nest replies to “Hey Google, are you there?” but proceeds to ignore them after they ask about the weather.
All of their speakers did this at the same time, the person revealed.
In just three days, 24 people have voted for having the same problem.
A tag on the post also states “this is a trending issue.”
However, Google has since resolved the issue causing some Home and Nest products to mute themselves.
The bug, supposedly only affecting voice commands, consisted of the voice assistant hanging up if asked for the weather or time, as it already displays this information.
However, the root cause has not been identified.
A spokesperson said: “The team is still investigating the root cause but have resolved the issue, so all users should be up and running now.”
Google has been approached for a comment.