Linking two Google Home accounts breaks automations - error 404 - security concerns

[DavidNYC]

I have two houses, my Main residence and a Vacation home.  I set up each home with it's own distinct Google account.  I have quite a few devices and Automations in my Main home, and about 6 devices in my Vacation home.  Instead of always having to change accounts in the Home app and to more seamlessly use voice commands, I decided to link the two accounts.  I sent an invitation to link from Vacation to Home.   Both homes appeared in my devices list of my Main account, and I could control devices manually in both homes.  However, when I tried to create an Automation in  Google Home from my Main account to control a device, the app ONLY showed me devices in my Vacation home, I could not navigate to my Main home devices.   I then unlinked the two accounts, but the problem remained - the only devices that were available to control were those in my (NOW DISCONNECTED) Vacation home.  Also, if I attempted to view or edit one of the Automations in my Main home account, I received an Error 404.  To make things even more weird - I was able to create an Automation in my Main account controlling a device in my Vacation home EVEN THOUGH THE TWO ACCOUNTS ARE UNLINKED.

I've deleted the app and data, also chrome, deleted both Main and Vacation accounts from my phone, restarted my phone - the issue remains.  Also, I have a 2nd phone using the same account, and Home is working fine there.

Anyone else experience a similar issue with linking homes?   The whole feature seems half baked and has security holes.

[David_K]

Have you considered just using 1 Google account for both homes? You don't need a separate Google account to manage them both. 1 account can create up to 5 home structures and manage all of them.

[DavidNYC]

As I'm not the only one that uses the vacation home, I don't want to give full access to my Main home to friends/relatives who use my vacation home.  At this point, I'm stuck with a Google Home that cannot properly create or modify any Automations in my Main home.

[David_K]

That's not how it works. Sharing your vacation home structure with friends/relatives would not give them access to see your other home structures. You'd be sharing just that one home with them, not all the home structures you own with the same account.

Share a home and devices in the Google Home app - Google Nest Help

[DavidNYC]

Ok, I understand what you're saying,  and that would be a good option.  In the meantime though, I'm stuck with my Main home being corrupted by the account linking process, and unable to modify existing or create new Automations.

[David_K]

No worries. If I understand correctly you have 2 accounts and added each account to the home structure owned by the other account. Is that correct? You then undid that?

You might have already checked this but when you try and create an automation for your main home, are you signed into the account that created that home structure? Tap your photo/initials at the top right to see what account is signed in.

[DavidNYC]

Yes, I've verified I'm using the correct (Main) account.  When the accounts were linked, I was unable to create automations to control my Main home - the only home presented was Vacation.  Even after unblinking, I am presented with Vacation home devices.  Trying to view/edit automations created before linking now results in an error 404

[David_K]

Have you tried removing and reinstalling the Google Home app?

[DavidNYC]

Yes, along with delete of cache and data.  I removed my Vacation home account as well

[David_K]

Okay, and if you tap the name of the home at the top left, is the correct home selected?

[DavidNYC]

yes.  Correct home when I view devices, and look at the list of automations.  Wrong home when I create a new Automation that is meant to control a device.

[David_K]

In that case,  I've asked a specialist to review this topic and advise on next steps. Just so you know, it may take a short while for them to do that.

[Juni]

Hi folks,

Thanks for the help here, David_K.
 

DavidNYC, thanks for reaching out and letting us know about your concern. We are glad that you were able to isolate it by using another phone. Are you using Android or iOS? Also, what is the Google Home app version that is installed on both phones?

I look forward to your response.
 

Regards,

Juni

[DavidNYC]

I'm using Android 14 on my S24+ with GH version 3.13.1.4  and Android 13 on my S20+ and GH 3.12.1.6

[Juni]

Hi there,

Thanks for the details you’ve shared. Which one of these phones is having issues? Have you tried contacting your phone’s manufacturer since this is isolated to just one phone? In that way, they can check your phone’s settings. You can try to factory reset the affected phone, then reinstall the Google Home app and observe if it makes a difference. 

Best,

Juni

[DavidNYC]

The S20 is fine, the error appears on the S24.  I was using the S24 to link the accounts when the error appeared.  I find it highly suspect that a flaw in my device is root cause.  How would a device cause my GH to show the devices in my now unlinked home when creating automations?  In fact, how could a device cause GH to CREATE AN AUTOMATION IN ANOTHER HOME THAT IS NOW UNLINKED?   I believe this issue occurred in the google servers.

[Juni]

Hello there,

Thanks for the additional info you've shared. We'd be happy to take a look into this for you. Please fill out this Contact Us form with all the needed information, then let me know once done.

Thanks,

Juni

[DavidNYC]

Hi Juni - I had an open ticket when I created this thread - I wanted to see if anyone else had experienced this same issue.   The issue "magically" went away recently and everything appears to be working properly.  I did NOT receive any sort of communication from the support team confirming this though, nor any sort of explanation of what the issue and resolution actually was, which was unsatisfactory.

[Juni]

Hello DavidNYC,

I apologize for the inconvenience you're experiencing.  Could you provide us with the case number from our support team so we can look into this for you? 

Regards,

Juni

[DavidNYC]

1-9293000035643

[Juni]

Hey there,

Thanks for the additional detail you shared. We are glad it’s working now. Upon checking, it appears that they already passed your reports to the right team, and they are aware of this behavior and are still currently investigating. You can wait for the email from the support representative that is assisting you, and please continue the conversation there so they can assist you accordingly.

For now let’s wait if other users will see this post and respond to this thread. 

Best,

Juni