The Google Home device hit the market last year and has been a strong competitor for the Amazon Echo, which was the first smart home assistant to hit the commercial consumer market. While Google is a well-established brand, the Google Home device is a new venture. As with any new product, there are going to be bugs that mess with the performance of the product.
Google Home has experienced a few of these bugs in its short life.
The first issue was in late 2016, when customers began complaining that their Google Home device stopped playing music after a short period of time. Users reported that they would initiate a song or playlist either by voice command or through casting, but that the music would stop before a single song even finished. Savvy users were quick to reboot their devices, but there was still no long-term solution and their music continued to stop prematurely.
Another issue that people frequently have is trouble connecting. Smart home assistants don’t work if there are connectivity issues, so this is a big problem. This is a common problem in many households, and is a result of the growing dependence on multiple connected devices per person in each household. Many times, this is a simple capacity issue, and should be handled by power cycling both your device and your router.
The most recent, and most disturbing, issue is when the Google Home device stops working completely; as in, no one is home. When users gave he code wake up phrase, “OK Google,” they received a response that something went wrong, that there was a glitch, and that users should try again in a few minutes. This was a wide-spread issue, with many users reporting that nobody was home when they tried to use their Google Home device. Google acknowledged the issue and reported that they were working on it. Many users were understanding, and reported their issue to Google so it could be fixed. Others, however were outraged and threatened to stop using the Google Home device completely. This isn’t a threat that Google can ignore, since users can instead use the Amazon Echo device family, or even hold out for the forthcoming Apple HomePod device.
For those that experience the “nobody home” issue with the Google Home in the future, there is a way to reset the device to work. First, open the appyou’re your Google Home using a phone or table that is connected to the same WiFi network that your Home is connected to. Next, look for the “devices” icon, which will be located in the upper right-hand corner of the app. From there, tap the three vertical dots on the upper right corner of the Home card then open the Setting feature. Again, find three vertical dots then tap the “reboot” option. This should reboot the system and get your assistant back in action.
Luckily, the hardware has not been compromised. The issues that have happened with the Google Home are software based, so patches can be administered to and pushed to all devices without lengthy return and replacement processes. While inconvenient, this is just the world we live in now. Technology is advancing quickly and companies are doing their best to keep up, but sometimes we’re going to experience these types of hiccups.
