Hub photo's freezing

[MargieMac]

Moderator update: The topic discussed in this thread was resolved on 7/12/23. A new, similar conversation about this topic is currently happening here: Google Nest no longer displaying Photo Frame. Please feel free to join the discussion there! 

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I have two Google Hub and they are both freezing on photo's. My setting is every 5 seconds on both, but I see on other feedback they can freeze on any time frame setting.

I have had them for a couple of years and they have never done this, I wonder what changed.

[butcher99]

It is longer than that.    I have been dealing with it for at least 2 or 3 months.   

[ReflectiveJim]

Having the same issue. Disappointed realizing how slow Google is rolling out a fix.

[Skinholt]

And it's not just how slow they are with a roll out of a solution. They are slow with corresponding with us about this. They're communication skills are absolutely horrible.

I just counted my Google devices. I have 34 including numerous speakers, displays, thermostats, smoke detectors, temperature probes, cameras, internet routers, etc.  

I still have problems with my Google speakers when I try to play multiple ones throughout the house. That has been an ongoing issue that Google refuses to solve as well. And they do not even want to communicate about it. It really is kind of becoming a horrible company to deal with.

[xiteg79]

Same with me. I have a big Google environment in my home and I have speakers in my kids rooms and half the time I cannot even broadcast to the speakers as it says it cannot pause their speaker or something to that effect. 

Horrible acknowledgement from Google on these issues

[vilasi1]

Google/Nest should really feel ashamed looking at this channel. It has been more than a month now since the issue was reported and the community specialists continue to ask people to do dumb things like "factory reset", "unplug/pug power"...

One of the community specialists @KiiFromGoogle posted the below two weeks back.  But in spite of asking repeatedly for an update, there is complete silence.  In the meanwhile more users continue to report the issue and Google/Nest does not seem to care.  Pathetic state of affairs with Google/Nest.

"Thanks for submitting feedback to help with our investigation. Our engineering team is aware of this behavior and is working on a fix. Stay tuned to this thread for updates! "

[RLF_62]

Google fix this, I purchased two of the large displays and they worked for awhile. One was a gift for my parents and they are both freezing on random pictures. Either fix the bad firmware or switch us back to the previous that worked fine. I didn't purchase these to see a single picture or have to continuously say ok Google next. Fix it already!!!

[DHarmer]

Seriously, it worked JUST FINE a few weeks ago!

[jyscheng]

I'm also noticing my alarms with the Sunrise setting aren't working ... the alarms still sound, but no sunrise effect.

Unless the last firmware update had a lot of important security features, I would really Google to just rollback the changes and test again ...

[Maszy]

I just bought a used Nest Hub Max to use it as photo frame. What a waste of money

[KiiFromGoogle]

Sorry for the delay, everyone!

We hear you-- we know this issue has been happening for some time, and we thank you for your patience. We wanted to provide an update that the team is still on top of this and is currently working on a fix for the next release. We'll continue to post updates here.

Thanks for bearing with us! 

[Fenway]

I appreciate the update very much, but I have a question.  Why is it that it seems that for each of the common problems, we keep seeing that they are being worked on? We never see that something big was solved. I really like Google products, but my Hubs have been a disappointment.

[vilasi1]

Finally.  Thanks, @KiiFromGoogle !  Appreciate acknowledging the issue and providing the update.

[cviaes]

Same here... It's frustrating. Maybe it's time Google sends refund or replacement.

Carlos 

[butcher99]

  Google sent me a replacement.   It worked great for a few days then I think it got the upgrade.  Or downgrade.  Now stops all the time

[Skinholt]

Yes, whoever sent you the replacements should have certainly realized it's not a hardware problem. It's a software/ firmware problem.

Replacing devices is not going to help.

Google needs to find a way to compensate all of us for this weeks-long problem that was caused by their update. Many of us use these devices primarily as photo displays.  For the past several weeks we have had devices that are pretty much worthless. What is Google going to do to compensate us?

[butcher99]

 I actually bought mine as such because it was supposed to be such a fantastic photo display.  And it was.   The only other one I looked at required you to load photos onto their own webpage.  And I figured if the company goes broke there goes my photo display unit.   The uploads were free so the only way the company could run the server would be if they continued to sell more and more units.  Looked like almost a Ponsi scheme.     I figured Google probably will not go broke.   

   And then they broke the display.

[steveindanville]

PLEASE fix this.  I know I've commented below, gave all the requested information to you, and have heard nothing other than "we're working on it".  I don't mean to be cynical, but that's right up there with "the check's in the mail".  Mine is getting worse and worse, and it's just completely random.  Yesterday it went perfectly for 5-6 hours and today I've already had to say "Hey Google, next photo" to start the photos rotating again.  If nothing else, show us here how to roll back to pre-Fuschia software.  You guys broke our Hubs.

[tms5dmk2]

what's the status of the fix please? this takes way too long.

[steveindanville]

I just talked with Ryan in Customer Support and after giving him all my Hub information, we did a soft reboot (unplug for 5 minutes), check for phone and app updates (already up to date), uninstall and reinstall Home, and now either in addition to freezing or replacing freezing, the photos randomly change every one to eight seconds, no matter what time I have set in either the app or the hub.  He suggested restarting my phone, which disconnected the call, and I never heard back from him, other than a voicemail saying that he tried to call me and I didn't pick up.  He said that he would send me an email to my Gmail account and that he had escalated my case to his senior support team.  This was 25 minutes ago and no email.  I am beyond frustrated.  My 30-second photo change is now broken too.

[Skinholt]

This is so typical of Google Support.  Their support reps should be aware that this is a firmware problem that has not been fixed yet.  Instead they waste our time jumping through useless steps that make things even worse.

Wake up Google! Get your act together.  Send out a message to all your Tech Support Reps and to your customers to inform them that this is an issue that you caused in your latest firmware/software update and that, so far, you have not figured out a fix.  Stop wasting our time.

And also figure out how you are going to compensate us for turning our devices in into bricks for the past few weeks.

Thank you.

[steveindanville]

I can confirm that my Hub is now back on my preference of every 30 seconds, with no random changing.  I have a case number, and I will let them and this thread know if it freezes again.  Fingers crossed.  Hint:  DO contact support via phone.  They tried very hard.  The soft reboot, which drains the electricity out of the hub, was really the only different thing that I hadn't read before on this thread, so give that a try.  You have to wait a full five minutes before plugging it back in.  It's possible that the Home uninstall and reinstall helped too.  I'll advise.

[steveindanville]

I just got back from a one hour bike ride and the screen is frozen again.  I just contacted Support with my Case # and asked "What now?"  Nothing is fixed; sorry about the false hope and wasted motion by I suspect, a lot of you.

[butcher99]

been through all that and much much more.  Somewhere here there is a list of what I tried including Google sending me a brand new unit which worked for about 2 weeks then started freezing. I am thinking it finally got the dreaded update.

[SriramTV]

Thanks for the note but when can we see the fix been rolled out , can we have a ETA plz 

[vilasi1]

HI @KiiFromGoogle ,

Any update on when the fix will be available.  Seriously, I wonder if Google is taking this up with priority when so many people are complaining (I am even doubting if anyone in Google is actively working on this issue).  I am also a software engineer by profession and I am not able to comprehend why this is taking months for Google to fix this issue (I can trace back people reporting this issue since about 3-4 months now).  If this is such a difficult problem to solve, why is Google not scrapping this product instead of fooling more people into buying this?  This is just insane!!! 

In the absence of not getting any meaningful update on the fix, is Google ready to provide a full refund if I had return the product now ?

Regards,

Vilas

[caroldough]

Same issue. How will google communicate the fix?

[SRN13]

I have this issue also.  I have live albums selected and have had the same three for several years.  There's never been an issue before a few weeks ago.  My photo frame freezes whenever someone walks in the room.  The only way to get it going again is to swipe to the next photo (interestingly, it will not allow me to swipe to see the previous photo).  Unplugging to reset doesn't solve the issue.  I've even turned the camera and mic off, and even more interestingly, it still happens.  Of course this is concerning because, if the camera and mic are off, how does the Hub know someone entered the room?  

Of note, once I clear the problem by swiping to the next photo, it will show photos from the albums as is should.  It will freeze again when someone else enters the room. Only when all occupants leave the room and re-enter does it freeze again.  

[Pics4Fun]

To add to the numerous concerns, both of my Google Nest Hub and Hub Max have the same issues regarding the slideshow freezing up. I continue to unplug them for a minute and then replug them. The slideshow will start back up....then freezes up again after about an hour. I noticed a new version with the Google Home app yesterday...version 3.2.104. However, there is no mention about resolving the issue of the slideshow freezing...just new enhancements to the app. It would be nice if, they would focus fixing the problem, instead of enhancements to the app. 

[Bobj10]

Is there a status update on the photo freeze issue happening on the displays?

[dmsteslow]

Please communicate your Support people’s I was on a chat for over one hour with four different clueless people and nobody was aware of the issue! I was the first one according to the snippy support person. Lol. 

[vilasi1]

Unbelievable and ridiculous!

[Skinholt]

Hi @KiiFromGoogle ,

It's been 2 weeks since you last provided an update.  In the meantime, users continue to get advice bad from Google Support about replacing equipment, moving devices closer to routers, factory resets, etc.  Some Google Support Staff still report that they are not aware of this issue.

3 Questions:

1). Why no ongoing updates by you or officials at Google?

2). Why the continued bad advice and lack of knowledge by Google Support.

3). What will Google be doing to compensate users for the weeks/months of dealing with your defective devices?

Steve Kinholt

[comfort_eagle]

This is still an issue - any updates? It's been a known issue for a while now - it's getting frustrating. 

[Cmon]

Still no update? 

Going to send both device back. No need for freezing foto's. 

[seniorclie]

Having the exact same problem and I B thought I was going insane because nothing I did would fix it. Now I’m seeing lots of people are having the saber problem. Please fix it!

[Mark6357]

@KiiFromGoogle  , Joined preview program yesterday.  System firmware updated last night.  Now version 11.20230306.3.134.  Pictures haven’t frozen in 12 hours.  Seems to be working now.  Thanks so much.  Use to freeze every hour.

[Daveg87]

Hey mark - how can I request the preview?? 

[Mark1305]

Hi Daveg87

Go to Google home App , tap the cog wheel, called Settings  at the bottom right of the page,  then tap your display hub, then under the the heading “General “ tap Device Information and then about half way down the page you will see Preview programme , tap on this and join the Programme.

Good luck and I hope the above is self explanatory

[Armand]

How's it currently going... any update to report?

Freezing still or all resolved?

[Daveg87]

I want the preview! My photos keep freezing, how do I get the new update???