Google Assistant timers

[ThatMatMik]

I have eight Google devices in my home. When my children attempt to use any of the speakers, which are a variety of shapes and sizes, to set timers, google assistant will say "sorry, im not sure what you mean". There are four users in this household. Myself, my wife and my two children. Both my wife and I can successfully set and stop timers. My children cannot. It's only the timer setting that doesn't work for them. They can start and stop music & ask questions, etc successfully.

Really REALLY annoying

[Alex_S]

Hi ThatMatMik,

That’s odd. Can they set up a timer before? When did you notice this behavior? How old are your children? Is it also happening to a regular timer or all kinds of timers (named timers)?

Regards,
Alex

[ThatMatMik]

@Alex_S 

Do posts to the community, where there is an obvious defect, get to the Google product development team? Or are we simply shouting in to the void?

[Phaelin]

This has been going on for weeks. Started early December.

8yo can't set any timers, regular or named. "I'm sorry, I don't understand." is all we get back.

[NicMau]

Is a solution being worked on?

[ThatMatMik]

began about a month ago

They are 12 and 8 

Every other command still works. Routines still work.

When they say "hey Google set a timer" the assistant responds with " okay for how long?" 

They say x number of minutes.  Assistant responds with "I'm sorry I don't understand"

My wife and I can request the same action and get the correct results.  We've tried retraining voice models, unlinking the accounts from home, and relinking, rebooting all of the devices in the house.  Nothing works.

[jcmiller]

We are having the same problem with children not being able to set timers on our Google homes, and also one adult.  I can see the Google home is correctly understanding us based on the text on the screen, but it still says it's can't help.  This problem is only for timers while all other commands work.  This started in the last week or two.

[angieschmitt]

Currently having the same issue, though also extending to third party light control. Wonder if they messed up permissions for child accounts.

[Muz1]

We're also having this problem. My kids (5 and 9) can play music and ask questions but when they try to set a timer it doesn't work for them. My wife and I can set timers though.

[asalerno162]

Same problem. Kids 7 and 10 who have been using timers for a year or more, suddenly can't set them any more. Started about a month ago. They can say, "set a timer for X minutes" and Google says, "sorry, I don't understand." And I can come say the same thing and it works every time. Seems like a glitch in their permissions. 

[Twohenleys]

Another parent wondering what has changed recently to affect behaviour that that have been using with no problems for ages. These are chuldnaccounts with voice matching enabled. Google understands what they are saying but restricts access. Where as two parent accounts with voice match works no problem.

Really annoying where they have bought into the world of assistants but cannotnuse them for daily tasks.

[Tenkely]

Same here. Been going on for weeks...

[Alex41]

Same here 

[Bryanvlo]

Hope this fix this soon my kids use the timer a lot. 

[SCheng]

We have the same problem, just noticed it within the last few weeks.  We found a workaround that can help until Google fixes the problem.  Have the kids say, "Hey Google, set an ALARM for _____", which still seems to work.  But you get the alarm ringtone instead of the traditional timer up chime instead.

[NTS15]

I'm  facing the same , kids can't start timers anymore, the current work around as other people set is setting an alarm, but that doesn't work as timer screen at all! 

[GoodierD]

I'm having the same issues. However one child can set timers and the other one can't.

[VitaliyK]

Same for me. 

[Nemi5150]

Same for me. They also cannot turn on any smart home devices that go through SmartLife

[RamRod78]

Same here... 

We get "sorry I don't understand" for the timers and "sorry, tuya smart is not available right now" for light commands when the kids try.

If they ask the Nest Hub, the light control for that light shows (so it obviously understands them) and they touch the screen to turn the light on and it works fine.

Me as master account have no problems.

My wife has 50% success.

[Ase117aherc]

Same issue

[RamRod78]

Same issue here for about a month.

Timers & Tuya Smart.

[jammarhoads]

Same issue in our home too. Come on Google please get it together. 

[jwest]

Same here

[whitewolf]

Same problem here

[FrankMThompson]

Same here. My kids can't set timers anymore, which they use when brushing their teeth. Though it always works for my wife and I. It's really frustrating and stupid the our kids can't set timers.

Google, if you're going to kill the "smart speaker/display" group, just do it and save us the slow painful death of constantly losing features as time goes on (Which  huge amount are going away 1/26/24)

[Argonous]

Been having this issue for over a month now.  Neither my 11 year nor my 9 year old can set timers anymore.  This is especially annoying for my 11 year old since he cooks dinner often and relies on the timers.

[Patrickhallogy]

Same. Google, this is so silly.

[Casaurus]

My daughter can't set a time or control the lights anymore. We have tried retraining her voice and insuring the devices recognize her. This is super frustrating and pointless.

[kevinlt]

Similar issue. My 8 y/o can start a routine but not set a timer. There is a timer build into the routine, and the speaker will run the routine but say "I don't understand" when it gets to the timer part (which doesn't set). Only workaround we've found so far is having him use my wife's Alexa speaker 🙂

[dtk]

Just bought my 11 year-old a nest mini and trained her voice. Now she can’t set timers in kitchen (hub) or her bedroom (mini). Looking into return policy but would rather it just get fixed. 

[Drdagost]

Same here

[bselleck711]

Currently having the same issues, including an inability for kids to control third-party lights (Hue and Kasa plugs).  

[sprocket37]

I'm having the same issue

[theoldlr]

Experiencing the same issue. It started the moment a family link account/voice match was configured. Prior to creating the account, it responded to my child normally

[Rbrooks]

Same issue. This worked since we bought the device this summer, stopped working in the last few weeks. Child can do anything else, just not set a timer.

[Puppetx]

My kids have this problem also. 😞

[Zhh]

Same problem

[nccrow]

Same here - children with voice recognition set and personalised results can no longer set timers. It works on the Sonos One speaker without personalised results. 

[piroscavich]

Same problem.  Two adults can set timers, two children get "I don't understand".  The kids can ask how much time is left on timers we set.