Tech Reviews & Gadgets

Google Nest Hub and messages not responding? you are not alone

C. Scott Brown / Android Authority

long story short

  • Google’s Nest Hub and Audio have stopped responding to many users’ basic commands.
  • The problem started a few days ago and is still ongoing.
  • Simple things like the weather or time can leave the assistant spinning and loading indefinitely without providing any answers.

Update: January 3, 2024 (1:06 a.m. ET): We’ve heard from Google and the issue has now been resolved for most users.

A Google representative said: “The team is still investigating the root cause, but has fixed the issue so all users should be able to run normally now.” Android Authority Via email.


Original article: January 2, 2024 (10:24 a.m. ET): A few days ago, I returned from Christmas vacation to find that my Google smart speakers and displays had decided to ignore me entirely. I asked a simple question: “Hey Google, what’s the weather like?” — the same question I’d asked countless times before, but all I got was an animation loading for several minutes with no answer.

At first, I thought it was a geolocation issue, but the weather showed up accurately on my Nest Hub display, giving me all the details if I clicked on it manually. It just interferes with voice commands.

Knowing that my Google speaker had recently decided to go against me (maybe because I use Gemini on my phone?), I told my husband to give it a try. He gets the same endless loading animation. We repeated this on a second-generation Nest Hub and two Nest Audios, but to no avail. Pixel tablets seem to be hit or miss. We unplugged all of these devices, restarted the router, plugged them back in, and connected them again, to no avail. We also tried changing the assistant’s voice, enabling and disabling multiple languages, but still to no avail. I recorded the video below to show you the problem in action.

I also tried other voice commands. Turning off the lights or starting the vacuum cleaner works, as do many smart home controls. Playing music also works. Setting the timer is accidental. Some users have complained about the same issue on Google’s support forums, saying it occurs on the Nest Hub Max as well as the first-generation Google Home and Google Home Mini. Some people have completely reset the speakers to see if that fixes the problem, but it doesn’t.

As with all of these reports, what tripped my speakers was a very basic command. “What’s the weather like?” or “What time is it now?” makes the Nest Hub and Audio completely stupid. It was as if the speakers were negotiating with each other, trying to see which one should respond to me, but couldn’t find the right one. Most of the time, the first person to answer the call is the cell phone near me. This happened three years ago when I was on a crappy 2Mbps connection, but since then it’s never happened on my 600Mbps+ connection.

Are you facing the same problem? Please tell me in the comments. I’ve reached out to Google for comment and will update this post if I hear back.

Any tips? Talk to us! Email our staff at news@androidauthority.com. You can remain anonymous or receive credit for your information, it’s your choice.

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