It seems Google Home speakers are falling flat on their faces this morning, as there are multiple reports of speakers either refusing to work, or taking a very long time to respond to requests.
While it’s unclear how widespread the problems are, rest assured that if you’re wrestling with your Google smart speaker this morning, then you’re not alone.
An answer in 3-5 business days
According to multiple posts on Reddit, Google Nest and Home owners are finding their smart speakers suddenly struggling to give them an answer.
While there are a few problems being highlighted, a common theme is that while the speakers are still capable of listening, a response takes a very long time to come through. Most sources seem to agree on a reply taking around 30 seconds to formulate, or even going for so long that it times out.
It’s not clear whether the affected speakers are newer or older, but at this point in time, it seems to be a mix of both, with at least two posts highlighting long waits while using brand-new Google Home speakers.
But issues don’t seem to be limited to Gemini taking its sweet time to reply. No, one particular unlucky user found that their Home speakers had simply taken themselves offline for no reason they could see.
Google’s smart speakers are no strangers to problems and issues, especially in more recent times, and this is just the latest big problem. It says a lot that the r/GoogleHome subreddit posts a rant thread every now-and-again, just to let people get all of their emotions out.
It’s only been a few weeks since the last time Gemini went down, and before that, Google itself admitted that Google Home was getting worse.
At the moment it’s not clear how widespread these problems are. The Downdetector page for Google Gemini claims there are no mass problems, but reports have spiked above the baseline, which would indicate a low level of ongoing problems.
It’s sad, but we have to admit we were waiting for something like this to happen. With the launch of the new set of Google Home speakers, and the continued rollout of Google Gemini to older hardware, it was inevitable that Google Home would have a moment and fall over.
At the moment, there’s been no official confirmation from Google about the problem, but we expect it’s already on the case.
We’ve reached out to Google for comment and will update when we hear back.
