topic Re: Managing Google's spoken responses to commands in Home Automation

Managing Google's spoken responses to commands

august1003 — Sat, 10 Aug 2024 03:21:24 GMT

I have a Google Home Mini (1st gen), which was a gift from a past roommate. I've just moved to a new place and am doing setup myself for the first time. I have a couple of Smart Life bulbs in my room, and every time I ask Google to switch them on/off, it replies "got it, turning the lamp off," or something similar. For some of my other devices, like the smart outlet I use for my fairy lights, it simply makes a sort of chime to confirm, then does the task. Is there a way I can make it do this for other devices? I really do not need it to speak a full sentence every single time I switch a device on or off, it's a bit annoying. I can't seem to find a way to manage this in the settings, and I'm wondering if it's even an option.

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

Re: Managing Google's spoken responses to commands

EmptyNester — Sat, 10 Aug 2024 23:11:09 GMT

I love your question and have noticed the exact same thing. Just a single "chime" confirmation is all that is needed. I hope someone know the answer to this but my cut says it is all buried WAY to deep in the google software.

Re: Managing Google's spoken responses to commands

JBastos — Sat, 10 Aug 2024 23:46:09 GMT

Esse é um dos MUITOS defeitos do sistema Google. Também eu e certamente muuuuuitos outros usuários sentem este desconforto. Porém o Google considera ser um favor fornecer aos usuários instruções que facilitem o uso de seus equipamentos. Tudo é difícil. Tudo é obscuro. Enquanto isso o sistema da Amazon dispara na vanguarda. Pobre Google. Quer desenvolver IA quando não tem sequer inteligência para alavancar os itens básicos de seu negócio.

Re: Managing Google's spoken responses to commands

august1003 — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 00:58:20 GMT

Ok I think I actually figured it out by accident!

Open Google Home app
Go to Settings
Go to "Devices, groups, & rooms"
Tap the room that the Google Home is in
Tap "Choose devices"
Then I saw my Google Home with a check mark, and my two smart bulbs with no check mark. So I checked both of them and tapped "Save".

Now that the lights are considered in the same room as the speaker, it only does the confirmation sound to any commands that involve them, rather than replying with a full sentence. I'll keep this in mind in case I ever get devices that technically would go in another room, I could add them to the same room on the app if I want the Home to only chime rather than give a spoken reply.

Hopefully an option to change the option for chime vs spoken, per device, will be introduced in the future.

Re: Managing Google's spoken responses to commands

august1003 — Sun, 15 Dec 2024 21:01:09 GMT

I moved again, so I came back to check on my instructions from last time, but came upon a road block again. So, adding more info here in case someone else needs it in the future:

When I got to "Devices, groups, & rooms," that option wasn't available at first. To fix this, I had to go under "Services" to tap "Works with Google." Then I was able to reconnect my Smart Life account. After reconnecting, I was able to add those bulbs to my new Home into their own Room. Then the "Devices, groups, & rooms" option was available again.