Having trouble with Speaker groups? Read this first

[kelanfromgoogle]

Hi everyone, 

Thank you for continuing to notify us of the reliability issues you’re facing with your Speaker groups. I escalated these issues internally and the team is actively investigating a resolution. If you’re able, all feedback is appreciated! Please keep it coming by saying “OK Google, Send Feedback." Providing details, such as mentioning that the issue is with the "speaker group," is especially helpful.  As always, we appreciate your feedback and are working hard to alleviate the issues. 

Thank you for the patience,
Kelan

[kelanfromgoogle · Accepted solution]

Hey folks,

Thank you for your continued patience while our team has been working to address the issues with Speaker group functionality. I want to give you all an update and confirm that a fix was identified which will address a specific problem where some devices, when acting as the group leader, cause an issue with audio not playing on other speakers that are part of the same group. However, you may experience that the main (or leader) device will still play the media as expected.

The following devices will cause this behavior when used as the group leader:

- Chromecast with Google TV (4K)
- Chromecast with Google TV (HD)
- Google Home (Fixed as part of firmware update 3.73)
- Google Home/Nest Hub (first-generation)
- Google Home/Nest Mini (first-generation) (Fixed as part of firmware update 3.73)
- Nest Audio (Fixed as part of firmware update 3.73)
- Nest Hub (second-generation)
- Nest Hub Max
- Nest Mini (second-generation) (Fixed as part of firmware update 3.73)
- Nest Wifi Point
- Pixel Tablet
- A small percentage of third-party speakers were also affected

Note: the issue must be fixed on the device that is the leader of the group in order for the other devices in the group to start playing consistently

The fixes are specific to each device type, and are dependent on upcoming scheduled update rollouts. We will update this post as the fixes begin rolling out for each device so you can test your own speaker groups.

There may be some devices that take longer to receive the update so if you’re still encountering issues, you can try these temporary workarounds:

Cast directly: if you’re trying to play audio in multiple rooms, cast the audio directly to the individual speakers.

Restart your devices: If you’re having trouble with your speaker group and are unsure which device is the group leader, try restarting all devices that are part of the speaker group. This can often resolve the issues.

As always, we deeply appreciate the feedback and your patience. If you are still running into issues with Speaker groups, please leave a comment below with clear descriptions of the behavior you're encountering. This feedback will help the team further investigate and mitigate anything else that might be causing this feature to not work as intended.

Thanks again, we're working diligently to get everything back to how it should be.

Kelan

[slashinpdx]

I recently had a problem with adding a couple speakers to a Speaker Group.  They had previously been in the group, but I'd deleted the group.  When recreating the group, I didn't notice that though they were selected, they didn't get added.  I tried deleting the Speaker Group and recreating.  I reset the offending speakers.  Nothing worked.  "There was a problem communicating with Google."  UNTIL:  I used an old android tablet and downloaded the APK for Google Home version 1.30.43.16 and installed it.  I got a couple of errors but was able to click on the icon at the top right for Devices.  It showed 124 speakers linked with my account.  Multiple copies of all the speakers I own.  I removed them all and exited the app. THEN I was able, again, to create a speaker group with all of my speakers using my iPhone.  Hope this helps someone.

[marcolopes]

I wish i could REMOVE all the "old" devices that appear under ROOM configuration...

There are DOZENS of devices listed with names that were used in the past that just don't make sense being there!

Where are these infos stored?? Why can't we delete them using Google Home?

Do we have to use and obsolete version of Google Home?

[RussdaFuss]

This is typical behavior of the Google Home app with old and abandoned Google Home, Nest Audio, and Chromecast Audio devices and speaker groups. Google caches these devices and groups on its servers. You have no control over this. A Google support employee once wrote to me that deleting your Google account would be necessary to resolve this issue.

[Jiiro]

Hi ALL

This ghost device problem preoccupied me for six months and involved a lot of research before I 'implementing a radical solution.
In fact, there's no way to clear the Assistant cache, and Google developers don't seem to be in favor of this idea.  Without being certain, they must be using it for their own needs; otherwise, it would be possible to clear this cache.
I had leftovers from all my 9 devices from all the maintenance and reinstallations I've done over the past four years.
Here's the simplest solution I used to solve this problem.
I created a new profile on Google exclusively for managing the Assistant and Google Home.
1) The profile name and new @Email must be different from the old one.
2) Go to the old profile and log out of all devices.
3) Uninstall the Assistant and Google Home.
4) By reinstalling the apps, you must specify your new profile.
5) On the new profile, reinstall your devices as you did previously on the old profile.
6) This solution is time-consuming and requires meticulousness, but it works; you will no longer have ghost devices or devices marked offline in the Assistant and Google Home.

[Uncle-Googs]

Maybe once I purge all my google devices - that will be my final step.  Thanks Google.  See previous rants about you pissing off your sales force (happy customers).  I have zero interest in any new Nest/Home audio devices...  purging has already begun....