Bug: Google Home app caches light status showing incorrect result if light is turned off elsewhere

[shjin404]

I like to report a bug. 

Google Home app has [Lighting] button that shows all lights. This screen shows incorrect light status if Google Home app was used to show status of lights once and left it open and then the light is turned on/off by manually or by other apps. Basically, the app caches the light status and does not get the latest status from the device when showing the [Lighting] list.

I have Kasa (TP-Link) lights. 

Steps to reproduce:

1. Open Google Home app.

2. Press [Lighting] button to see all lights in the home

3. Manually turn on/off one of the light (rather than using Google Home app)

4. Press [Lighting] button to see all lights in the home.

5. Verify the light status shown in the Google Home app matches the actual light you just turned on/off manually

The only way to correct this is to manually kill Google Home app in iOS (iPhone). Then it shows the correct status.

It looks like Google Home app caches the status of the light once it pulls the status and caches the status thinking that the app itself is the only means to turn on/off all the lights (which is wrong assumption).

[Juni]

Hi shjin404,

Thanks for posting and for being a step ahead of us. 
 

I know how it feels when something isn’t working as it should, so let’s get this resolved. A few things: was this feature working before? If so, when did you notice the issue started? Were there any recent changes made before the issue started? Is the behavior ok on the light’s native app? Is it happening on one light only or on all of them? If you have different brand lights, is it happening to them too?

You can uninstall and reinstall the Google Home app, then observe if this will make a difference. Also to further isolate try to use another phone and observe if it’s still the same.
 

Let me know how it goes.

Thanks,

Juni

[shjin404]

it is possible that the issue is specific to Kasa brand switches. The issue happens even after reinstalling the Google Home app or even with its new Preview version.

Kasa app has no issues and in fact even Alexa doesn’t have the same issue. 

[Princesss]

Hey there,

Chiming in to see if you still need assistance with this. Hope the previous post helped. Let us know if you have additional questions, otherwise we’ll be locking the thread.
 

Best,

Princess

[shjin404]

The issue happens even after reinstalling the app and even with the new Preview version. 

The issue might be specific to Kasa smart switches as I only have switches from Kasa. 

Kasa app doesn’t have the same issue and even Alexa doesn’t have the same issue. 

And even Nest Hub doesn’t have the same issue so I am convinced that it is indeed a bug of Google Home app. 

if I kill Google Home and restart it then it shows the correct status. 

[Juni]

Hi shjin404,

Thanks for the details you shared, sorry that you are still experiencing the issue. So we can further isolate the issue, could you try to use another phone and let’s observe if the Google Home app behavior is the same?

Looking forward to your response.

Regards,

Juni

[Princesss]

Hi shjin404,

Due to inactivity, I'll go ahead and lock this thread in 24 hours. Feel free to start a new thread if you need assistance with your Google Nest devices and we'd be glad to assist you further.
 

Best,

Princess

[Princesss]

He y there,

We just want to check if you have seen our response posted above. Let us know if you have additional questions, otherwise we'll be locking the thread.
 

Best,

Princess