Google mini refuses to play any radio stations

[Owen_Schmowen]

Well I think the title says it all really. When asked, my assistant maintains that she can't find it or its unavailable right now. Eh..... Really?

[woody]

I tried a different command, "play on tunein CKNW" and it connected. Before it responded to a simple "play CKNW."

I'm happy that my little helper responds again.

[Tanya5]

The request to ask for tunein didn’t work for me!!

[Tomek]

From yesterday isn't possible to play any radio stations. The same situation on mobile phone and Google speaker too

[npower]

Similar issue here. Google Assistant won't play any of the RTE Radio stations in Ireland. It says they're not available or can't be played right now. I can manually cast them to the speaker but this isn't convenient.

[NestMini2021]

Hello looking for some help. I got a Google Nest Mini (the little round speakers) to play the radio while I am away at work. It has worked great for the last month and the last few days it won’t play any local FM radio stations. I got it for this reason. So super disappointed it’s not working. 

Anyone know if there is a fix? I have rest, unplugged etc. 

[Hey_Its_Lane]

Having same issue here!  
ask your mini to send feedback on the issue. 
just say “hey Google, send feedback” then tell her what’s wrong. 

[NestMini2021]

Thank you!

[JohnDoe]

I am constantly getting a "sorry, cannot do that" response from my Google Home wifi when asking it to play music from a local radio station or even any other media.  I have tried resetting and still get the proble,

[Blen]

I've found that my local radio station was through a service called Tunein.  Tunein was not working for any radio station it plays.  I tried something from another service, like Iheart80s from Iheart and it worked.  Today, Tunein appears to be working again.  If not, try something like Iheart80s to see if it is Tunein or the mini in general.

[Jrwalt]

Google home mini won’t play the radio station that I normally listen to. It says it can’t do that but I can try on another device. 

[ssgrdg]

Same thing is happening to me.  Tunein works on my Samsung S21+, but not on the home mini.

[ssgrdg]

Update.  This morning, I was able to play other radio stations on Tunein Radio.  But the one I listen to mostly still will not play.

[ssgrdg]

Update: The mini fixed itself and now plays the Tunein station

[BruceWalker]

Same for me. Stations that were carried by TuneIn can no longer be played. But CBC news which is carried outside of TuneIn still works fine.

My theory about this is that TuneIn appears to have just changed their terms of service. If you open the TuneIn app now it demands that you sign up for a free trial of their paid service and after the 7-day trial pay $13.99/month for their service. It used to be ad-supported but free.

So I am searching for a work-around now.  Meanwhile I'm having to dig out the old ghetto blaster from the basement just to hear the local news. Gah!

[BruceWalker]

So, replying to myself: I found a work-around and also disproved my own TuneIn theory. (I don't believe the TuneIn terms changed after all. I think now that something dumb is broken somewhere in Google's infrastructure.)

To work around this issue you have to have the TuneIn app installed on your mobile device. Open the app and if it tries to get you to sign up to a "free trial" look for a faint grey X in the upper-right corner of the window and touch that.

Then find your radio station and start it playing. After a TuneIn-inserted ad plays you should see the Chromecast icon appear along the lower part of the screen. Touch that and select your speaker(s). Bingo!

[Rosyv]

Thanks, I added the TuneIn app to my iPad, and suddenly everything works. I have avoided it because I didn’t want to pay, but your workaround works. Thanks again, it was driving me crazy.

[Redkite]

I'm having exactly the same problem as you. I listen to Talk Radio every day on both my speakers and now I get the same message as you. I've even tried a factory reset. If you find out anything please let me know.

[BruceWalker]

Until TuneIn and Google fix this use the TuneIn app on your mobile to manually Chromecast your station to the speakers.

[npc]

How come Google Nest no longer recognizes TuneIn when I say `OK Google TuneIn Radio Station'  Google says she doesn't understand the command.

This has always worked on our Google Nest until this morning !

[woody]

I have the same problem. Can't connect to any tunein radio station.

[Funkmeistermike]

Same problem here.

[bill_anderson]

I too have the same issue since yesterday Sept 16th. I used to be able to say "OK Google put on CBC Radio 1 in Halifax" And google would respond "OK playing CBC on Tune In."

Yesterday Google's response became: "I don't know but I found these results on search". And The Google Nest brings up a browser page (which I don't remember ever seeing before) with various links including one for CBC.ca/liveradio


Deets on my Google Nest Max
Software Version 40.14.32.385268564
Cast Firmware version 1.56.265669

What the heck is going on ?

[OldRugbyGuy]

Hey there,

Lately I have had to give commands to my google home mini more than once in order to have it complete the task requested (usually just music playback).  We get the "hmmm something went wrong" message almost 90% of the time.

Then this morning I try to play my favorite radio station and now it says that it can't find it.

All TS steps say reboot your device or relocate it.  Did all of that and the issue still persists.

Google, please figure it out.  Worked great for a long time but the last few months have made me want to throw this device in the garbage and switch to Echo.

[MrVacca]

Hi @OldRugbyGuy 

Sorry to hear about the issues with your Home Mini.  Just to clarify, when you said reboot, did you also do a factory reset of the device?  That would be my only further suggestion on how to fix it. 

[Bhindu]

I started having the same issues last night. After a year and a half of perfection, My mini advised that the radio station requested could not be found or was temporarily unavailable. Same response to any requested radio station on both my Mini and Home unit. How do I I do a Factory reset

[MrVacca]

@Bhindu @OldRugbyGuy On the bottom of Home Mini, press and hold the factory reset button located below the power cord. Look for a circle etched into the base. After 5 seconds, your device will begin the factory reset process.

[Juliana44]

Why does my nest now say that it can’t tune in to my radio station? . It usually tunes in via iTunes but can’t do it. 

[jlo56]

I'm having the same issue... used to be able to play radio, but now only search results of radio stations appear. Help is appreciated!

[woody]

Since 16 Sept 2021 our nest speaker does not connect to any radio stations in tunein. Spotifiy works, streaming radio from phone works. It's a Google problem and we are looking for a solution

[Trishers]

Mine just decided yesterday that she "couldnt find radio station or it isnt available"

Any suggestions on fixing this????? 

[n4syth]

Be patient...?

Mine did that yesterday but working today. Don't know if it will happen again but hoping for best... 

[woody]

I found out that I got my station back by changing the command. My old one was "Hey Google play CKNW, and this does not work lately. I went through phrases and when tried" Play on TuneIn CKNW"  to my surprise it worked.

[imblssd]

That worked!! Interesting. 🤷‍♀️

[frances]

Hi All,

Thanks for reaching out. I am sorry to hear that your devices are suddenly unable to play radio stations that you request. I understand how frustrating this issue is. 

At this time, TuneIn has reported that they are aware of this issue and are working on resolving it. 

For a temporary solution, I recommend casting your radio to your Google Home/Nest device from an app on another device. When casting, please ensure that both of your devices are on the same WiFi network.

Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns. I will keep you all updated. Thanks. 

[frances]

Hi All, 

This issue should have been resolved today and your radio voice commands should be back to normal. 

Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns. Thank you. 

[frances]

Hi Crystal_Moon,

Thanks for commenting. I just wanted to check in, has the issue resolved for you? If not, you may want to reach out to the Google Assistant Help Community Forums as voice commands are connected to Google Assistant. A specialist there should be able to look into this issue and help you.

Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns, thanks. 

[frances]

Hi All,

We haven't received any new responses from all of you. I'll go ahead and lock this thread. If you're still experiencing problems, feel free to start a new thread and we'll be happy to help.