Hub not showing shared photo albums

[sjkonig]

I have several Nest Hubs and one Nest Hub Max in my home, that I use primarily as digital photo frames.  The Google account that I use for these devices has access to a shared Google Photos album that is created and managed by a separate Google account.  I have set by Hub devices to show photos from this album in settings.

From the time I purchased the Hubs until about a week ago, this worked flawlessly.  However, in the last week it has stopped working.  Now instead of displaying photos from the shared album, I get only artwork.  This is in spite of the fact that the settings for each Hub are set to photo frame, and the shared album is selected when I click into it.

Troubleshooting a bit, I discovered that Google Photos albums that belong to my primary account will display just fine.  The problem occurs only if I select a shared album owned by a different account.  I've tried creating a different shared album, but the problem persists.  

Since this worked great until a week ago, I'm assuming an update was pushed out that broke the ability to display shared albums on the Hubs.  Please fix this!

[Arbadacarba]

I have exactly the same problem... It seemed to fail first on the Hub Max and then on the older Hubs... Worrisome since we have purchased 6 of these things for this purpose.

Sorry I can't help but at least you know it's not just you.

[RomanOnARiver]

I am also experiencing this issue, on a Nest Hub v2 and two Chromecasts. I'm a ticket with Google to see if we can't get this addressed.

[sjkonig]

Thanks for sharing this information!  Please keep us posted on the status/resolution of the ticket.

[GaneshMSP]

Thanks for the ticket with Google, any chance you did get any response ? Even I am facing the same issue, and I have bought 6 of those devices for the photo frame purpose.

[virnab]

Hi sjkonig,

Thanks for reaching out to our community.

I’m sorry to hear that your Nest Hubs devices stopped displaying photos from the shared Google Photos album, and instead of that, you are getting only artwork pictures. Thank you for sharing all this important information about the experience that you are going through and the troubleshooting steps you have tried. No worries; it is my pleasure to assist you with this concern.

Before I start further troubleshooting, let me ask you a few questions:

• Have there been any recent changes to your environment, such as a change in Wi-Fi network or recent outages? 
• Have you tried to reboot your Google Nest Hub devices?
• Could you please double-check the permissions on the shared album and ensure they are set to allow viewing?
• Could you please double-check on your Nest Hub if you are logged into the correct Google account that has access to the shared album?

Thanks for your kind attention; I will be looking forward to your answer.

Best regards,

Virna

[sjkonig]

Hi Virna,

No, no changes to my environment.

Yes, I've tried rebooting and factory resetting the devices, to no effect.

I have double-checked the settings, and they do allow viewing.

The Hub is logged into the correct Google account.

Thank you,

Stephen

[sjkonig]

Hi Virna,

No, no changes to my environment.

Yes, I've tried rebooting and factory resetting the devices, to no effect.

I have double-checked the settings, and they do allow viewing.

The Hub is logged into the correct Google account.

Thank you,

Stephen

[Arbadacarba]

Added information: if I go in to choose my Photo Frame sources... and select just the shared album, the preview becomes a generic picture of the hub showing a photo with the text "Select Albums above to preview." If I add another group of photos it stays broken, but if I remove the Shared Album it immediately previews the selected images.

[virnab]

Hi there,

Thank you for your kind response. I appreciate the effort you invested in providing me the information I requested. This information helps me to better assist you.

According to the information you provided me, I would recommend you try using another shared photo album and check if you have the same inconvenience.

If you are not experiencing the same situation with the other shared photo album, please, from the account that is sharing the album, create a new photo album using the photos from the album that do not show your Nest Hub device and try to display this new shared photo album.

Please let me know how it goes.

Best regards,

Virna

[sjkonig]

The problem occurs with any shared album, even newly created ones.

[Arbadacarba]

It might just be me but I can't find anywhere to:

• Could you please double-check the permissions on the shared album and ensure they are set to allow viewing?

I did create a new shared folder and I can see it to select it but when I do, I again get the missing preview, and the hub shows generic art.

[Zacbarton]

We have the exact same issue. Photos from shared albums (either one's we own or are invited to) never show photos. 

[virnab]

Hi there,

Thanks for keeping me up to date with the results gotten from the troubleshooting steps provided. I’m sorry to know they were not useful in resolving the inconvenience that you’re experiencing with your Nest Hubs devices that are not displaying photos from the shared Google Photos album. But don’t worry; we can try other alternatives to resolve it.

Please try the following troubleshooting steps:

• Unplug the device for over 15 mins.
• Make sure that the Google Home app is up to date.
• Check if the device is running the latest Fuchsia version. Check this article for reference. 
• Please check the distance, in the same or different room, same or different floor, for any major obstructions or interference like mirrors, walls, floors, cabinets, appliances, etc.

Let me know how it goes.

Best regards,

Virna

[Arbadacarba]

• Unplug the device for over 15 mins. - 2 hours unplugged - no change
• Make sure that the Google Home app is up to date. - Has been updated all along
• Check if the device is running the latest Fuchsia version. Check this article for reference. - They are on the newest firmware... and the release date of the firmware closely coincides with the problem showing up. (I believe that is the case... but I can't find a release date for 22.20240805.103.161 - It looks like 2024-08-05 but is that the date of general availability (in which case I'm wrong) or is that the build date?)
• Please check the distance, in the same or different room, same or different floor, for any major obstructions or interference like mirrors, walls, floors, cabinets, appliances, etc.  - It's multiple units in different locations that have not moved.. Also in my case one is a Nest Hub and the other is a Nest Hub Max 

[sjkonig]

I have performed all of these steps but the problem remains.  It occurs on every Hub and Hub Max device that I own (5 in total).

[ejk43]

Hi,

Think I'm seeing a related issue... It looks like ONLY the photos I personally upload to shared albums are displayed in the Hub Max. Even though the other uploader is an Admin (!) of the household, it still only displays the photos I upload-- and in my case it does not seem to matter whether I create the shared album and the other uploader adds photos, or vice versa. If the shared album has zero photos that I've uploaded, then it will go back to displaying artwork (sounds like the problem above)

Also tried all the above debugging steps, and a factory reset. After doing the factory reset, we set up and configured the Hub Max from the other account, and still get the same results. This makes the Nest Hub basically unusable for displaying photos for me .

Any other recommendations?? Thanks!

[virnab]

Hi there,

Thank you for reaching out to our community.

I'm sorry to hear that your Nest Hubs and Nest Hubs Max aren’t displaying the shared Google photo albums, even though you already tried to resolve the inconvenience using the troubleshooting steps provided. We understand how frustrating it is not to find the settings that allow you to show the shared Google photo albums on your Nest Hubs and Nest Hubs Max. We continue working for you, looking for the solution.

My team would like to know more about this behavior. When you get a chance, please fill out this form. Remember to include the link to this post. Let me know when you’re finished. From there, we'll contact you via email.

Let me know when you're finished. Your confirmation is crucial to ensuring that I can follow up on your case effectively.

Best regards,

Virna

[sjkonig]

Done, thanks.

[virnab]

Hi sjkonig,

Thank you for the confirmation. We will contact you via email, so please check your inbox.

Best regards,

Virna

[Zacbarton]

I can confirm that I still have the same problem after trying all the troubleshooting steps too.

[GaneshMSP]

Was able to get a work around, but not a straight forward solution.

Over my primary account, I created a new album, and added the photos from the shared album to my newly created album in the primary account . Now I am able to select the newly created album in the Google home app and able to see the photos in the nest hub.

It's a pain, if we have 20+ shared albums, but this is the only work around, I was able to get to work.

Dev team, really need to fix this issue.

[Rioohhh]

Same issue here! Appeared exactly around the period you mentioned it started with your devices. I have 3 nest hubs that are almost useless now, because this was my main reason for using them.

[_Luis_]

Same issue here. Is google taking care of this?

[Randomhkkid]

Having the same problem on my nest hub 1st generation. Shared albums won't show photos despite nest hub being linked to an account that's an admin on the shared albums.

[U-sername]

I also have the same issue on two different Hub, Hub Max devices and they started around the same time as mentioned above.