Sleep timer time recognition issue

[Anonymous]

So until recently, sleep timers worked perfectly. Now my speakers have slightly changed their behaviour.

If I ask 'set sleep timer for xx minutes', then it works perfectly every time. If I ask 'set sleep timer for x hours', it responds that it doesn't understand. 

What is interesting, is say I ask for a 60 minute sleep timer, then the assistant will respond that it will stop playing in 1 hour, but it doesn't understand if I ask for 1 hour! Used to work fine either way.

[Juni]

Hi agardiner, 

Thanks for reaching out — let’s see what’s going on. A few questions: what Nest speakers are we working on? When did it begin? Also, what steps have you taken so far?

You can reboot your Wi-Fi router, and once the network is back up, do the same thing to your Nest speakers.

Let me know how it goes.

Regards,

Jun

[Anonymous]

Hi and thanks for your assistance.

So, all equipment has been re-booted. This is not a technical problem, it is an AI one with regard to Google's understanding of the request. I have a Google home (original), a Google Nest Audio and 2 Google Nest Mini's and the behaviour is the same on all of them. It started roughly a couple of months ago. I noticed it because the bedtime routine I have set up stopped working 100% in that the sleep timer element stopped working.

If I ask for a 30 min, 60 min, 90 min etc etc sleep timer, then it works perfectly. Ask for 1 hour, and Google says 'sorry, I didn't understand'. Ask for 2 hours (or more) and it sets a regular alarm timer.

So as said, this is not a fault. Just an interesting quirk which would be nice to teach the Google assistant, so you can set a sleep time when asking for 1 hour. And as also said, it did originally work when I first set the routine up.

[Juni]

Hi there,

Got it. What command are you using when setting up a sleep timer? Are you getting the same response when you use your phone’s Google Assistant? 

I look forward to your response.

Thanks,

Juni

[Anonymous]

Hi,

So the command I am using is: 'Hey Google, set sleep timer for 60 minutes'. Or in the case of the command that is not recognised: 'Hey Google, set sleep timer for 1 hour'.

I don't have a smart phone and my Android tablet blew up, so cannot check the command using that. I use a Chromebook now.

[LovelyM]

Hello agardiner, 

Understood. Go ahead and try changing the Assistant language of your Google Nest speakers to either English (USA), English (CA) or English (UK). Set a sleep timer afterwards and inform us if you're still getting the same behavior on your devices.

Best, 
Lovely

[Anonymous]

OK, tried that and yes the behaviour is the same.

I note that if I instead say, 'stop playing in 1 hour' then this works fine which is interesting. 

[LovelyM]

Hey agardiner, 

Please try to factory reset one of your Google Home or Nest devices and set it up as a new one. Check if the same behavior happens even when the data is cleared for that device. Give me the firmware version of all your devices so we can take a closer look at this.

Cheers, 
Lovely

[Anonymous]

Thanks Lovely for your suggestion. I am not going to factory reset my devices though, as I don't have a Smartphone (my tablet blew up) to complete the setup routines again. The Google Home app works on my Chromebook, but is limited in what it can do.

At the end of the day, everything is actually working just fine. It is more a curiosity as to why Google recognises 60 minutes but not 1 hour. Besides, I also note that if I ask it to 'stop playing in 1 hour' then it understands just fine. It is only the 'sleep timer' command it struggles with.  I will leave well alone.

Thanks all for the suggestions.

[LovelyM]

Hi agardiner, 

I understand your point on this. I've already flagged this to our specialist team and they're currently gathering data. It would help if you could send us feedback by replicating the issue first and then saying, "Hey Google, send feedback" with the keyword: "GHT3 Sleep timer not working."

Kind regards, 
Lovely

[LovelyM]

Hello again agardiner, 

I wanted to follow up and see if you are still in need of any help. Please let me know if you are still having any trouble from here, as I would be happy to take a closer look and assist you further.

Best, 
Lovely

[LovelyM]

Hey there agardiner, 

It's been a few days since your last reply — we're going to lock the thread within 24 hours. If you have further concerns, please feel free to create a new post.

Many thanks, 

Lovely