Color State Not Updating in Real-Time on Google Home Control Page

[chris63]

We are currently experiencing an issue with color state feedback. Our application has been successfully linked to Google Home. After we modify the color of the device through our app, we notice that Google Home does not update the color in real-time.

Specifically, when we are on the device control page in the Google Home app, the color does not reflect the updated value. Only after we exit the control page, return to the device list, and then re-enter the control page, does the updated color appear.

Could you please help us understand what is causing this issue?

Screenshot of the control page:

Here is the device state we reported after modifying the color:
{
"agentUserId": "8e4ab8e5f52545abb0af9e208d0ebc84",
"payload": {
"devices": {
"states": {
"0203f8cf0de246e49614c2a321fa0b67": {
"brightness": 38,
"color": {
"spectrumHsv": {
"saturation": 1.0,
"hue": 120.0,
"value": 1.0
}
},
"online": true,
"on": true
}
}
}
},
"requestId": "cm9ib3Qt-ZGV2aWNlQXR0cg==-8379429336320251"
}

[chris63]

We have discovered another issue related to color temperature feedback.

When we adjust the device’s color temperature via our application, the updated value does not reflect on iOS devices, while it does show on Android devices. However, even on Android, the color temperature only updates after exiting the device list and re-entering the control page—it does not refresh in real time.

Here is the device state report we send after adjusting the color temperature:

{ "agentUserId": "8604088730de499ba33cd2cc376f49b7", "payload": { "devices": { "states": { "e9fd8b0901164b73b1bd2f1410f9820c": { "brightness": 100, "color": { "temperatureK": 4000 }, "online": true, "on": true } } } }, "requestId": "cm9ib3Qt-ZGV2aWNlQXR0cg==-8385880033093315" }

Could you please help us understand why the color temperature does not update in real time, especially on iOS?

[choukibennoui]

 

 

[arm_dpe · Accepted solution]

Thanks for sharing the issue with color state update. Can you please open an issue tracker (Public Trackers > Smart Home) and share the bug ID here. Provide all the details from above along with the video from the device. I will forward it to internal teams for further investigation.

[khalid25]

This behavior is usually related to how state reporting and real-time updates are handled between your app and Google Home.

In most cases, the issue happens when the device state (in this case, the color trait) is updated in your backend but not proactively reported back to Google Home using the proper state reporting mechanism. As a result, Google Home doesn’t immediately refresh the UI while you’re still on the device control page. When you exit and re-enter the control page, Google Home fetches the latest state again, which is why the updated color then appears correctly.

Here are a few things to check:

1. State Reporting
   Make sure you are sending a reportState request to Google immediately after the color is changed in your app. Without this, Google Home relies on cached state until the view is refreshed.

2. Correct Trait & Payload
   Verify that the color is being reported using the correct trait (e.g., action.devices.traits.ColorSetting) and that the payload format matches Google’s specification exactly.

3. Latency or Async Updates
   If your device updates color asynchronously, ensure the final color state is reported only after the change is fully applied, not before.

4. Home Graph Sync
   If the issue persists, try triggering a manual SYNC or check whether the device state is correctly reflected in the Home Graph via logs.

This kind of delayed UI update is fairly common when state reporting is missing or incomplete, and addressing it usually resolves the problem.

As a side note, if you’re looking for simple color-related printable resources (unrelated to device control, but useful for UI/UX testing or demos), you can find coloring pages, free coloring pages, and PDF coloring pages that you can easily download coloring pages from here: get here.