topic Re: Media Alarms are stopping?? in Speakers and Displays

Media Alarms are stopping??

vs271 — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 18:31:28 GMT

Last night, after I set up my daily media alarm for this morning, I got a google message saying that Media Alarms will stop on February 1st and that it will be replaced by a regular "alarm sound"??!! This better not be. I will NOT be happy about this one bit. I do not want to be woken up with an alarm beep or tone. I want to wake up in the morning with sound of music of my choice or radio station. Is anyone else getting this message? Like I said, if this is the case, I will be switching to *gasp* Alexa!

Re: Media Alarms are stopping??

Kadven — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 18:58:24 GMT

Hi @vs271

Unfortunately it seems they are making a number of changes to how google assistant works.

See this link:

https://support.google.com/assistant/answer/13971691

As you can see the second bullet point is concerning media alarms.

As it says it is possible to simulate the old media alarms using personal routines.

Re: Media Alarms are stopping??

Msvda — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 21:06:17 GMT

Why are is Google changing this? Voice commands are very useful.

Re: Media Alarms are stopping??

vs271 — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 22:03:36 GMT

Well that seems to be confirmation. It is supposed to stop tomorrow, It's complete baloney to stop this feature. That writeup states that media alarms aren't used much so that's is why they are stopping that function? I find that very hard to believe. Based on that explanation, I would have to set it up as a daily routine to get a radio alarm? So depending on the night I have to go into the app and adjust the time every night. That is a nuisance when i can easily do a simple voice command. I thought that was the purpose of a smart speaker.

Re: Media Alarms are stopping??

Kadven — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 23:48:49 GMT

HI @vs271

Yes, you are quite right. A routine works fine if for instance if you normally have a media alarm set for the same time every morning say at a particular time time when working Monday to Friday and say a different time at weekends but if you want to vary the start time a lot then the routine solution will not work.

As to why these particular changes are being made I have no idea.

Re: Media Alarms are stopping??

KVKdragon — Thu, 01 Feb 2024 02:58:52 GMT

I'm extremely irritated by this. I listen to radio stations as an alarm sound so my mind won't adapt to the repetitive sound of regular alarm sounds. Why in the world are they getting rid of this feature? Who cares if barely anyone uses it? 😡

Re: Media Alarms are stopping??

Rhys-3 — Thu, 01 Feb 2024 12:57:45 GMT

I agree this is total baloney. I'm low key angry about this. I don't find my google home useful for that many things. Taking away one of the few utilities it does have is so frustrating.

Re: Media Alarms are stopping??

Rhys-3 — Thu, 01 Feb 2024 13:03:16 GMT

Waking up to music is a functionality that existed in clock radios, and clock cd players in the 80's and 90's. People have always wanted to wake up to something other than a beeping noise. So frustrating. I would not recommend a Google home to others, now. Straw that broke the camels back.

Re: Media Alarms are stopping??

Chunnu — Thu, 01 Feb 2024 15:06:24 GMT

Glad I found this thread - like others, I also received the notification that Media Alarms will stop as of 02/01/2024 and instead be toned alarms. This is absolutely horrible and I hope Google reconsiders keeping the Media Alarms. Waking to the sound of an annoying tone vs soothing sounds or inspirational music is definitely not my preference for starting my day coming out of deep rest. Moreover, Google may want to consider the health implications this can have on individuals ... should they look into the research related to best sleep/wake practices. If not, it may be time to make the switch to other smart home devices. Sorry, Google!

Re: Media Alarms are stopping??

Ac8919 — Thu, 01 Feb 2024 16:02:31 GMT

With the world of other options out there (thinking of you, Alexa, Apple) it seems incredibly stupid for Google to be withholding a feature that many of us Value. It’s inconvenient and somewhat costly but far from impossible to change assistants and if mine is going on strike with something I use regularly (but not in a manner I can schedule) I may have to fire that assistant. It also seems actionably fraudulent to have sold a system that offers certain features and then withhold one of those features after customers have already purchased

Re: Media Alarms are stopping??

VaskoObscura — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 06:35:04 GMT

Media Alarms are the #1 most used feature on my Google home and pretty much the only reason I bought the home max. It's great to be able to set an alarm and wake up to the radio or music or whatever. It's so convenient. Honesty when this media alarm goes I might just sell my home max and buy a different smart speaker. I don't understand why Google is downsizing features? Especially something so simple as setting an alarm linked to a radio station. Even cheap alarm clocks have that feature.

Re: Media Alarms are stopping??

CoW — Sat, 03 Feb 2024 09:34:13 GMT

The media alarms are the only way I can get up in the morning.... With Google taking away so many features, such as the games and Pikachu voice, there's no way I'm buying any more Google devices. I don't care if they're cheaper, because next thing you know, the pixel phones are going to lose their functionality along with all other products. Honestly if they keep downsizing the features, I'm just going to switch to Apple and Alexa. Google, please keep the media alarms and other features, or it's going to cost you a ton.

Re: Media Alarms are stopping??

davemad — Sun, 04 Feb 2024 10:25:18 GMT

What annoys me even more is that the Google Support website says:

Setting or using media alarms, music alarms, or radio alarms on Google Assistant enabled devices. You can create a custom Routine that has similar behaviour or use a standard alarm.

but doesn't provide any examples of such custom Routines. I've tried several ways, none of which work.

Do they just mean a timed routine that runs at the same time every day?? If so, I agree with many others on this that it defeats the whole purpose of a smart speaker.

Google: nobody wants to wake up to your Home Nest Alarm sound.

At the very least, give us some more alarm sound options!!!!!!!

Re: Media Alarms are stopping??

Scooot — Sun, 04 Feb 2024 11:25:13 GMT

The worst business decisions ever. They have just ruined millions of peoples mornings

Re: Media Alarms are stopping??

Jason-Not-Young — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 07:49:23 GMT

This doesn't work for me. Easily one of my most used features for years. Now I'll have to buy a programmable alarm clock. FML Leaves me doubting my loyalty to the brand a bit... No cap.

Re: Media Alarms are stopping??

davemad — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 08:40:09 GMT

it all depends on what Google considers to be a media alarm.

Usually I say "set a radio/music alarm at 6:50am", for example. Then it asks me what I want to play, I tell it XYX radio station, and it's all set. You can be sure this is a "media alarm".

However, you can also say "Play XYZ Radio station at 6.50am". If that isn't considered to be a media alarm, then it's easy enough to incorporate that into a routine, ultimately with the same effect, albeit a little less flexible since the radio station / music source has to be defined in the routine.

Just thinking out loud.
Maybe not time to consign the GH devices to the trash yet....

Re: Media Alarms are stopping??

iMaharagama — Mon, 05 Feb 2024 09:57:16 GMT

This is yet another exasperating downsizing move by Google. In their announcement about the downsizing, they've also discontinued the stopwatch feature. Just a few weeks ago, they stopped allowing timers to be set on smart plugs. So, there goes the convenience of turning off the lights after 5 minutes when I'm heading to sleep and need the stairway lit. My conclusion? They're likely phasing out the entire product line in favor of subscription-based services reliant on large language models.

Re: Media Alarms are stopping??

vs271 — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 13:40:01 GMT

Feb 1st has passed and we are still able to set media alarms. Could it be Google came to their senses and realized this was a stupid idea? Let's hope so.

Re: Media Alarms are stopping??

davemad — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 13:58:08 GMT

Although media alarms still seem to work, I was stunned to find my Google Nest responding to "Play XYZ Radio Station at 6.50am" (which previously worked fine) as "I'm sorry, I looked for >>XYZ Radio Station at 6.50am<< and couldn't find it, or it isn't available."

Doh!

Someone at Google is taking the P***

Re: Media Alarms are stopping??

Tara3 — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 12:46:18 GMT

I just got the notification today, saying it will end in February. No date given. I've been using it for months and this is the first I heard of it. So i assume it's still happening but the date's been pushed back to some unknown time this month