Can't turn off AC with timer using voice

[marcoshalano]

One thing I did in the past but can't do anymore is setting a timer to turn off my AC. I try to set the AC to turn off after two hours, usually when I'm going to sleep, but it turns off at the same moment, not after the two hours.

I have the same problem with my Nest Mini and my Home Mini.

I speak with my device in Brazilian Portuguese.

Anyone have the same problem or know if it is a known problem or if there is a workaround?

If I use Gemini, it works as should.

Thanks.

[EduardoN]

Hi @marcoshalano,

Thank you so much for contacting this community! I understand that you used to be able to set a timer to turn off your AC two hours after you went to sleep on your Google Nest devices, but now it only turns off the moment you add the timer. You also mentioned that the feature only works with Gemini. Don't worry, I'm here to help you!

To give you the correct troubleshooting steps, I'd like to ask you a few questions.

• You speak Brazilian Portuguese with your devices. Do you have the same issue when you add a timer in English?
• What voice commands have you used to add a timer?

In the meantime, I'd like to share some troubleshooting steps with you that might help.

• Reboot the Google Home: 
  • Make sure the user's mobile device is connected to the same Wi-Fi or linked to the same account as the speaker or display.
  • Open the Google Home app.
  • Tap Devices.
  • Select the speaker or display, then tap Settings.
  • At the top right, tap More > Reboot.
• Attempt to set a timer or alarm:

  • Timer: “Hey Google, set a timer for XX minute.” (Example: "Hey Google, set a timer for one minute.")

  • Alarm: “Hey Google, set an alarm for XX.” (Example: "Hey Google, set an alarm for 3 P.M.")

Visit our Help Center to learn more about Set and manage timers and sleep timers on your Google Nest...

Please feel free to share any additional details you think might be relevant.

Best regards,
Eduardo

[marcoshalano]

Hi, yes, I speak Brazilian Portuguese with my device.

I changed the language to English, and tried to talk with the Assistant, but it didn't work, but because it didn't understand me (my English can be bad sometimes). What I did was using the Assistant over text (disabled Gemini to use the Assistant app). When I typed in English, it did recognize.

The sentences I used:

Brazilian Portuguese (spoken, didn't work): "Desligue o ar-condicionado em 2 h*ras" (I put the asterisk because for some reason the forum doesn't allow the word, but of course I didn't talk like that)

English (typed, worked): "Turn off the AC in two hours."

[marcoshalano]

I added a timer saying: "defina um timer para daqui a 1 minuto" and worked.

[EduardoN]

Hi @marcoshalano,

Thanks for sharing that information with me. It's important to know which voice commands work for the timer. In this case, you changed the language to English and it worked, but with the Brazilian Portuguese, I have a few questions:

• Do you have the same language on your phone, in the Google Home app, and on the Google Assistant?
• Have you tried to create a routine to perform the same action?

Keep me posted.

Best regards,
Eduardo

[marcoshalano]

No, my smartphone is in English, Google Home is also in English and I have for Google Assistant both English and Brazilian Portuguese.

I didn't try to create a route. How would I do that?

It recognize me saying the sentence, but it just understand the part to turn off in two hours, so it turns off, but at same moment.

[EduardoN]

Hi @marcoshalano, 

Regarding this issue, please make sure the language settings for your Google Home app, Google Assistant, and your phone are all set to the same language, in this case, Brazilian Portuguese. After confirming this, please try to set a timer using the same voice command you used previously.

Tú puedes crear lo que es una routine de la siguiente manera en la Google Home app:

1. Open the Google Home app.
2. Tap Automations > Add > select Household.
3. To name your Routine, tap Untitled.

   Tip: If you add a voice starter before you name your Routine, the voice starter becomes the name.

4. Add your preferred starters and actions. If your Routine is set to start automatically and includes actions with audio, specify the device you want the audio to play on. At the bottom, tap No device for audio, select a device and tap Save.
5. Tap Save.

Visit our Help Center to learn more about Create and manage Routines in Google Home.

Keep me posted.

Best regards,
Eduardo

[marcoshalano]

I changed my smartphone language to Brazilian Portuguese, the Home app is most in Portuguese, but the settings (now the "config." tab") still in English.

I changed the Google Assistant language to be only Portuguese.

In the device information (which by the way still be in English), it shows en-US as language. I don't know how to change that.

What my routine should do, it's not clear to me.

Please understand that some months ago this was working, so I usually went do bad and I said, in Portuguese, to turn off the air conditioner in two hours, and it did it that, but now it doesn't work.

[marcoshalano]

I cleared the storage of Home app, and then logged in again, and it was all in Portuguese. Also I removed and reset my Nest Mini, and after adding again the language was pt-BR.

Yet I asked to turn on the air conditioner, in Portuguese of course, and it turned on. After that I asked to turn off in two hours and turned off at the same moment instead. I'm starting to think that is a Google-sided problem.

[EduardoN]

Hi @marcoshalano,

Thank you so much for keeping me updated on all the troubleshooting you've been doing with your devices, like restarting your Nest Mini, re-adding it, and changing the language, among others. At this point, I'd like you to try creating a personal routine to turn off the AC, and here's how to do it on your phone:

• Open the Google Home app,
• Navigate to "Automations," and then "Add."
• Choose "Personal" and name your routine.
• Add a voice command as a starter (e.g., "Turn off the AC"), but this will be in Brazilian Portuguese. Then, add the action to turn off the AC.
• Finally, save the routine.

Keep me posted.

Best regards,
Eduardo

[marcoshalano]

Thanks for the clarifications. I created a routine as you asked, but I still can't turn off the air conditioner _after_ some time. Please understand that the assistant recognizes my voice, but it doesn't consider the part "in X hours". I can see in my activities that the sentence was correctly detected, yet it turns off immediately and not after the time it was supposed to do it.

[EduardoN]

Hi @marcoshalano, 

For the routine, instead of creating a custom action, try adding a delay for the desired start time. Please note that this delay is fixed, so you won’t be able to change it on the fly if you want to start it at varying times. You can set the delay to match the time you want the AC to turn off.

Keep me posted.

Best regards,
Eduardo

[marcoshalano]

Thanks for the suggestion, but this won't solve my problem. I really need that Google Assistant recognize that I want the AC turned off just after 2h, 1h, etc.

It used to work, so it's clear a problem with Google Assistant and not my device.