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GoogleNestTeam
Community Manager (Admin)
Community Manager (Admin)

Hey everyone, 

Due to a recent legal ruling we’re making some changes to how you set up your devices and the Speaker Group functionality will work moving forward. If you’re using the Speaker Group feature to control the volume in the Google Home app, by voice with the Google Assistant, or directly on your Nest Hub display, you’ll notice a few changes: 

  • To adjust volume on your speaker groups, you will need to adjust each speaker individually instead of using the group volume controller. You’ll also no longer be able to change your Speaker Group volume using your phone’s physical volume button. 
  • Most Speaker Groups should continue functioning as expected unless you have a speaker group containing other brands of Cast-based devices, like JBL or Lenovo, they need to be on 1.52.272222 or higher Cast firmware version. Check out this article on how to find your device’s firmware version or contact your device maker. 
  • A small set of users will need to use the ‘Device Utility app’ (DUA) to complete product installation and updates. You may receive a prompt to download and run DUA, and it will ensure that your device is connected to Wi-Fi and receives the most updated software version. 

We will continue to support our users and work to minimize any additional changes.

Thanks, 

Google Nest team

993 Comments
monkey1aj
Community Member

@tedy02 not sure why you're saying *bleep* Sonos? They invented the tech and price their products accordingly. Google stole the tech, pulled out all the stops they could legally (including hiring world class counsel in terms of Quinn Emannuel) and when they lost, decided to just say **bleep** the consumer. I am mad at Google as a consumer of Google's speakers (or I guess now doorsteps). 

jymijamz
Community Member

This a bunch of crap I have 12 of these through out my house so you telling me I have to manually adjust volume 

 

Beerden
Community Member

Does anyone have any information on how to join a class action suit against Google for false advertising and removing features that customers paid for?

Scooter-Trash
Community Member

Here's a crazy thought.  What if Goog added preset volumes to a speaker group.  I could have 3 speaker groups for the same set of speakers that would be low, medium, & ROCK volumes....  I know it's not optimal, but moving the sound between the groups could change the volumes.

ambarcapoor
Community Member

None of my groups work. I can no longer cast to my speakers, cannot create groups, cannot see previously created groups, cannot find speakers on the network to create a new group. This is real bs. 

And yes, I have rebooted all devices, all devices are in the SAME network. 

itsamike
Community Member

@ambarcapoor I had that yesterday. Try toggling your phone's WiFi off and back on again.

ambarcapoor
Community Member

@itsamike thanks. I tried that as well as resetting my internet, router, rebooting my phone. Everything. Purged cache. It's frustrating because I've invested in a full Google ecosystem. 5 speakers and not one working. 

itsamike
Community Member

@ambarcapoor Sorry about that. Best of luck.

eramamma
Community Member

What I am most annoyed at is the loss of being able to cast to groups directly from the Home App. I listen to audio books while I'm cleaning or at home. The app (Audible) doesn't support casting, so the only way I could continue to listen in every room of my house, was to cast via the Google Home app. This feature is now gone. This makes the entire reason I bought this system now useless. I saw some great looking Sonos Speakers at IKEA, so I may be switching and trying to offload these now useless speakers, but to replace 7 speakers will be expensive.  

Rofe
Community Member

Hi

Devious
Community Member

Not ok at all! Everything in my house is Google! Video door bell 7 Google minis.  3 nests Google Chrome cast. Everything. Now it goes off on its own can't control volume anymore also won't go to default anymore via Bluetooth. It doesn't answer or interact like it should anymore. I call bs. That's not all I have. I won't by anything Google anymore.  If a TV has it on it air conditioning air purifier, I can go on. I want a refund! I have at least 5k in Google invested devices. I'm switching everything. I will no longer be using the browser either. None of it. Game and fraud. Won't be using Samsung phones anymore since your connected to them. I will cancel the internet service as well. I will be contacting Samsung. No more maps either. Beyond pissed!!

Ripper365
Community Member

Man, the amount of non-Google products I've had family and friends buy on my recommendation in the last three months is impressive. Cameras, doorbells, mesh WiFi systems, phones... The list goes on. My recommendations were primarily Google products before they s**t the bed and started intentionally gutting features and unintentionally breaking things. Thanks for putting your ineptitude on display for all. I'm officially moving on. 

Madrelove
Community Member

Can’t wait to be a part of it super excited yeah I wanted to do the testing and I want to see how it’s gonna work but I don’t think it’s gonna work very good with my phone because I like the physical part was easier for me because I can control the volume that I could be able to listen to and much more than what I want because if I can’t get online and I can’t watch more than what I wantedCan’t wait to be a part of it super excited yeah I wanted to do the testing and I want to see how it’s gonna work but I don’t think it’s gonna work very good with my phone because I like the physical part is easier for me because I can control the volume that I could be able to listen to and watch more than what I want because if I can’t get online and I can’t watch more than I wanna admit able to go down or up at the building control it because then I can’t be everything I wanna be with but yeah I’m looking forward to it

ShazLea
Community Member

@GoogleNestTeam FYI I put a Nest Audio and a Nest Mini up for sale. I have kept one Nest Mini and the Nest Hub (for now!). I have bought myself 3 Apple HomePods. Soooooo much BETTER in every way! Would prefer Sonos but wasn't prepared to pay that much.

But I am definitely prepared to pay more for something that works properly and as advertised.

"Hey Siri, change volume to 60% everywhere" .... I'm in audio heaven.

Will now head over to the Feedback section, not that anyone there is going to take any notice whatsoever, which seems to be the way Google runs its company!

Cindy1
Community Member

Do you all notice how google doesn't give a flying fu(k about what we said in this thread. They don't care. Maybe it's time for a lawsuit against Google as well no fair to have bought Google products and they no longer work as described. 

Mr_kansloos
Community Member

WORST UPDATE EVER

Halo69
Community Member

Has anyone experienced problems with voice volume control and Philips B97 Fidelio? 

I'm considering buying this system to replace my Bose Home Cinema system and my - now useless - Google Nest speakers.

I am so sick and tired of the Nest multiroom volume problems. Google clearly has no intention to pay Sonos and it doesn't care about their customers, so the problem won't be solved. 

That's why I need to know if the B97 doesn't run into the same problems. I need voice volume control to work in a multiroom setup.

 

 

SwampFox75
Community Member

Samsung SmartThings has an indoor camera but I'm not sure I'll get what I want out of it. They would be smart to get going and develop some outdoor cameras. I own all things Samsung and they would certainly be great if they listened to our concerns here and made something better.

barrymilliken
Community Member

The latest update has reached peak odiocy.

There is now no way to control volume of speaker PAIRS from a routine.

If you refer to the pair: "sorry i can't control volume on speaker groups. You need to adjust speakers individually".

If you refer to the individual speakers in the pair: "sorry I dont understand."

Google engineers are idiots.

BenW
Community Member
c0sm0naught
Community Member

160000 views on this article now. over 100,000 more than your next "most popluar" blog. (which is another blog full of people that are bemused with how terrible this whole eco system is getting)

Have you come to your sense yet @GoogleNestTeam or do you need this to continue?

your customers are not happy. every person on these online article represents many more who wont come and voice their opinon, but are still unhappy. That's a lot of people. many of which will be moving to your competitors if you keep this up.

 

pay Sonos - give our feature back

We paid our fees for these features - now you pay up

c0sm0naught
Community Member

and another thing - why can't you keep your help pages up to date?

most of the old casting pages are still there 

and:

https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/7444033?hl=en

you've bricked split screen recently - but there isnt a new help article for the new feature?

AND the new "feature" doesnt work on your flahship device it crashes the pixel launcher whenever it's used.

derp!

do you engineer's have any idea of what's going on!?

Sasha0
Community Member

I am just catching up with this post,  i just increased my nest google speakers to 7 and having a hard time streaming plus experiencing the volume issue. Did we hear back from Google ? Is this getting fixed in the short term? 

RonD1
Community Member

I convinced my wife to get rid of our standard stereo system and purchase two Google Home Max speakers for our home entertainment system. I had all kinds of trouble connecting them to the TV, after a bit I got them to work. I got her use to using them and now another big change (negative change). She is eating my lunch now about spending the money for the Google Max speakers. We have had nothing but problems with them. Now the volume controls have been downgraded. My house is really in the google sandbox and I’m really starting to re-think it. Google you disappointed me!! I associated the Google brand with quality, however I REALLY hope you make it right by your loyal customers and soon.

Amaximov1
Community Member

I used to be able to CAST directly from Pandora to any speaker, or a group of speakers. This worked a few weeks ago on my Pixel5 and was my workaround for volume control...has this feature been removed as well due to this b*s or am I just having issues with my new Pixel6? Can anyone confirm? It makes the typical connected beep noise but no music plays and Pandora controls are greyed with timer not moving.

c0sm0naught
Community Member

@Amaximov1 - I have a pixel 6 and can confirm casting is a massive sh!t show at the minute. mine often makes the "connected" beep but then won't play anything. often says "preparing" but rarley sorts itself out.

restarting my phone/casting device tends to help but isn't 100%

@GoogleNestTeam seems to think that this is acceptable and fudge knows if this will ever be fixed.

 

I've got a Sony amp that is "AirPlay" compatible - so I tend to use this more often [casting to groups is so broken it seems pointless to try at the moment].

Air Play isnt without its foibles though as when I change volume when streaming via airplay there is a MASSIVE jump in volume - which often terrifies me, my dogs, and any guests. yay

 

fpatou
Community Member

Hello 

Something happen for my JBL/Harman/Xiaomi products....cast version upgrades to 1.52.272222.

no comunication how this happen , is it from Google Initiative or not, I would be curious to know about it.

 

 

 

 

Komodo812
Community Member

Guys! It appears they fixed... SOMETHING! You are now able to change the volume of other speakers from a different speaker! You cannot say percentages though. You need to say set the volume at five... Or set the volume at seven... The max is 10. I guess they are slowly fixing it? This is a nice feature to have again because you can set up a routine to change the volume on all of the speakers. You need to set it to a phrase that wouldn't typically be used because it seems Google favors "volume up" (or similar phrases) as a command rather than a routine. Just go into the routine and list a specific command that says something like, "set dining room speaker to 5." You can add new speakers as additional commands in that routine. Good luck everyone!

Anonymous
Not applicable

I’m finished with Google Home. Absolute trash support and now they screw us after investing $1000’s on their hardware after they get caught stealing intellectual property. I have ditched all hardware, moved to iOS from the Pixel, and would never consider another piece of software or hardware for them again.   I was considering purchasing a Polesrar2 EV but walked away after finding the entire car was dependent on software from Google. The trickle down effect from Google’s bad decisions will start to make people not trust any product with their name on it. I’m already there.

snapperheadjoe
Community Member

@Komodo812 Thank you for the good news.  I think it has been working for sometime.  I've been running a nightly task to set all of my displays, speakers and GTvs to certain volume levels and it seems to have been working fairly consistently for a few weeks now.  The difference I've noticed now is that I can speak the volume commands to set the volume on any device, even my Toshiba and JBL speakers, which worked sporadically before.

I still have one Nest Display where I can't set the volume remotely from any other device.  It is running the same firmware but I either get no response when I say the command or I get "Sorry I can't control the volume of groups of speakers".  This is not a group of speakers it is a Nest Display so I don't know what Googles malfunction is.... the same command works perfectly against the other displays and speakers in the house.

Mikmik
Community Member

Google nest Speaker pair still not working with audio volume command? Please update me. planning to buy another mini for stereo in my small room.

Komodo812
Community Member

@Mikmik, try unpairing the devices, then removing them from Home, then adding them back to Home, and repairing them. IT WORKED FOR ME!

 

@snapperheadjoe, that's smart! Maybe for your one display issue... Try removing it from home, or even factory resetting it!? They also my just need tonupdat it. Seems for me, some things still need updating. My Google Max speakers and lower/higher in increments of 0.5 where my Nest mini and Nest speakera cannot! Very odd! 

Mikmik
Community Member

@Komodo812 

What speakers do you have for pairing?

I have jbl link music and they worked. I am not so sure if it works with nest mini i have one nest mini at the moment so I cannot test it out because I gave the other one that was used to be a pair because It cannot work with audio command for volume control

 

 

Hoot_Foghorn
Community Member

I have a google mini and a xiaomi speaker in a group.

I can change the volume with voice commands just fine. I don't understand the angry comments. The different ways to play music on more than one speaker work for me.

Caduser
Community Member

Hoot_Foghorn, 

Although I'm glad you're happy with your purchases, we are not, hence the group. Some of us, like me, have more than 20 or 30 audio devices linked together in different rooms and in speaker groups. What was once the reason we chose Google, is now the reason we want to sue them. We bought into a system that was taken away from us because Google stole it from someone else. You may be able to control your two speakers happily, but trying to change the volume in your home while you have to individually adjust 30 speakers is not fun, and not fair either.

Hoot_Foghorn
Community Member

I understand your predicament. But I still think you might have missed an option to control group volume.

See the attached iPhone screendump:
Do you have access to the option in the Google smart home app?

IMG_5023.png

tommykat1
Community Member

@Hoot_Foghorn , your screen shot shows casting from YouTube Music to your speaker group. This feature has always been available on both platforms, so no dispute there. 

The option Android users had prior to the January 6 update was "casting to speaker groups via mirroring your device," a feature that has never been available on iOS devices. Thus, iOS users (including some Google moderators) don't understand it and even disavow it, because they've never seen it. A Google search (bit of irony there) will show outdated instructions on how Android users could take advantage of the feature, how we used to be able to cast our favorite streaming programs and Amazon Audible to speaker groups for years, and how the feature was never supported on iOS devices.

Note that "device mirroring" is a Sonos feature that works with both iOS and Android devices in their proprietary app. Thus, the lawsuit likely affects Google Home's interface in this respect.

Please see my earlier post on this thread with clear screenshots of the missing feature. Also, see the below thread for a discussion that quickly became an argument about device mirroring being removed with the update, as the iOS mods didn't understand it.

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Speakers-and-Displays/quot-cast-my-audio-quot-to-speaker-grou...

Finally, note that a rudimentary version of the device mirroring feature has been added back to Google Home using a combination of voice commands and links, but with no documentation thus far, and no on-screen volume control of independent speakers. We're still waiting for Google to sort the bugs. 

Komodo812
Community Member

Hey @Mikmik! Sorry for the delayed response! I actually just used Google speakers. Most of the only ones that I link. Google Max, Google audio, and Nest mini! I don't have any other brands unfortunately. I'm sorry they are not connecting!

fpatou
Community Member

All seem to be stable now.... despite sound adjust that I managed with routine, my best regret : casting from YouTube music to a group.....was so smart.

Cindy1
Community Member

@Hoot_Foghorn the thing is I bought these smart speakers so I wouldn't have to grab my phone to change volumes etc

Hoot_Foghorn
Community Member

Understood @Cindy1 . I underestimated the problem thinking it was about the smart home app.

Cindy1
Community Member

@hoot-foghorn it's that and just everything else google is taking from us. 

Rofe
Community Member
c0sm0naught
Community Member
tommykat1
Community Member

@c0sm0naught , too early to tell...

On another note, if you're a Kindle or Audible user, you can no longer order books from your Android phone due to more Google legal mumbo jumbo. Not sure about iOS devices, but the jargon says I have to go to my computer browser, and can't use the Android Amazon shopping app to buy books. I'm just wondering if all this dovetails with the Sonos debacle, and how it works.

eramamma
Community Member

@tommykat1 I was able to load a new Audible book no problem. I added directly from the Audible app though, not through the Amazon Shopping app. 

caelanbarr
Community Member

Today I queued up some music in apple music on my pixel 4a 5g and I swear to God the speaker group volume was working. I excitedly ran across my apartment checking all of the speakers. They were all adjusting! So I went on here to see if something had changed, then when I didn't see anything here, I tried it again and my phone was back to adjusting the phone volume. Crazy to realize the functionality is literally still so present that it can just bug out and work again.  SO disappointed ☹️ Its like I was just transported back to when my speakers worked the way they were supposed to and I am going through a second phase of grief 😢

Komodo812
Community Member

Lol @caelanbarr! The The way you put that was perfect! 😂 All of it 🤣 Seems like they are SLOWLY getting there. If you actually say, "Hey Google, lower the volume on *insert speaker group name*", they will all adjust! The nice thing is, now they adjust at 0.5 (5%), instead of 1.0 (10%)! I also think that if you have the Spotify app open and hit the volume on the side, it works! It seems to be very touchy. Good luck!

caelanbarr
Community Member

@Komodo812 hahaha literally seconds ago I realized if I went into the apple music app it worked, quickly came right back to the thread to delete my comment thinking they hadn't turned something off in the android apple music app. cause, ya know, I wouldn't want that to be known 😂 they must be trying to figure out ways around this patent... 

 

And thanks for the tips re: adjusting by speaker group name and smaller adjustments. good news all around!

BernieMan
Community Member

@RachelC Thanks for the valuable information.  I understand that google is transitioning to google home app with the new google nest cameras.  I hope that we all listen to what the people think and their preference.  For me the Nest App is straightforward and easy to use.  It will be easier to manage the cameras separate from the google home app.  Unlike the google home app, I would like to view the cameras on the web and on my smart tv.  The Nest app is the way to go for all the cameras period.