LG speakers have lost functionality and integration

[Kambo]

I have a couple of LG WK7 speakers with built-in Google Assistant as well as several Google Home devices. The LG speakers used to work fine until recently. It coincides with the recent changes due to the Sonos issue and issues with all speakers responding (which has just been fixed) so it may be related. 

They no longer appear on the Home Hub screens when I cast to a speaker group using voice control - although the speakers do kick in.

Also, they refuse certain commands such as 'cast to all speakers'.

(Incidentally, when using the 'cast to all speakers' command on any device, it works some of the time but even when it does work it says 'Sorry, I'm not sure what you wanted to do.' I might post that as another thread.)

Anyway, any help with the LG WK7 speakers an what looks like limited integration is appreciated. 

Thanks. 😁

[mikeyo]

I have 3 of these in my house also as part of my multi room set up. LG never updated these beyond cast version 1.36.157053. As this lawsuit bs now requires 3rd party speakers to be running 1.52.272222 or better to work as expected in Googles eyes, I don't hold out much hope. I too can not see these on my hubs to control them when they are playing as part of a group. I posed the question about notice given to 3rd party cast speaker providers in the thread about the changes to speaker groups. As it stands I have 3 speakers that are less than 2 years old that are effectively obsolete for the purpose they were purchase for. Who do we blame now Google or LG? 

[Kambo]

Thanks @mikeyo . Yeah - that does seem somewhat disappointing. I've contacted LG and they'll be getting back to me with a response after the technical team has taken a look. Will share that with you. I guess it comes down to who is responsible for updating the software - Google or LG. It does look like we are kinda stuck until we know who looks after what. Can you provide the link to the thread you mention? This will be of interest to LG when they access this thread. Cheers. 😀

[mikeyo]

Thanks @Kambo , much appreciated.

Here is a link to the page where I pose the question about how much notice Googles speaker partners got about these changes and the impact on them and their customers.

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Blog/Upcoming-Speaker-Group-changes/bc-p/88010/highlight/true

Unfortunately a day or so after that post, the LG speakers no longer appeared on any of my Google Hubs. My Harmons and JBL's are are running cast version 1.44 or thereabout (which is older than Goolge's 1.52 benchmark) but they are still currently appearing on the Hubs. I wrote another post about that in that string a week later.

Basically the OEM (in this case LG) is responsible to maintain updates on their kit, however I don't suspect they ever expected they would have to update and i also suspect it is not on their roadmap to do so. No one would have seen this coming. The WK7's are running a version of cast released pre them ceasing to be sold, 1.36 is quite old. I believe if LG was planing on maintaining them they would have had an incremental cast update before now and there has not been, so that does not bode well.

LG customers are effected by this Google change as LG sold these speakers with Google Cast capability. So they should look at it, however as the WK7's are no longer available for sale I suspect they may not. Unfortunately I bought my 3 not long before they were discontinued for sale, so effectively that's two years of use before Google hobbled them. Effectively they are now just very expensive Bluetooth speakers. It would be great to see LG step up (as well as the other speaker manufacturers), but only time will tell. Or Google could just pay the licencing to Sono's and take things back to where they were.  

[Kambo]

Thanks @mikeyo . Apologies for my slow response. I haven't heard back from LG yet. I'll chase them up if I don't hear anything this week. I had a look at the other thread - very interesting. Not sure where you're based, but in the UK it is likely to become a trading standards issue if Google and their partners don't come up with a satisfactory fix. Hopefully LG will cone back with something helpful!

[mikeyo]

Thanks @Kambo, 

I'm in Australia, so their are consumer safeguards here also. My Harmon speakers are starting to do weird stuff now also. Speaker pairs have broken and some speakers have fallen out of my Google home environment. Google certainly have made a huge mistep here, and their lack of concern for those in their ecosystem is really evident unfortunately. Hopefully LG will step up on the WK7's. As they run the oldest version of cast, they are the ones least likely to get sorted, but we can only hope.

[Kambo]

Yeah - I agree. Hopefully Google will up their game as they've been a bit poor with this one. Have a good weekend Mike - and stay away from the speakers as it will just wind you up and take up valuable chill time! 😀

[Kambo]

Hi Mike

I had an email from LG today asking me if I'd reset my WK-7 speakers. I had reset them previously, a couple of times, but to no avail, but I tried it again after their email and it now seems to work - albeit with a potential new issue, which I'm hoping is just a coincidence. I've pasted in their reply and my response so that you have the full picture:

FROM LG:

Thank you for your email. I hope you are keeping well! I have taken a look into this for you and I am sorry to hear this issue has arisen. I have passed this over to our Senior Technical Team on file who will respond to us with advice within 24 hours for us to advise you on but, while we wait, please could you confirm you have tried a full reset and update of the speakers?
Please also confirm if other devices work fine with your Google Home devices?
We can then check your file once we have your response and let you know what our Senior Technical Team have advised for this!

MY REPLY:

Thanks for your email. I have previously reset the speakers to fix this problem but it did not work - however I had a go again, following your message and it does seem to have fixed it - they appear on my Google Home Hubs within speaker groups and can be controlled, and the 'cast to a speaker group' functionality works too. I'm not sure if you, or more likely Google, have made updates in the background recently, but it seems to be fixed. It is not completely fine though as my speakers seem to be behaving a little strangely now - they are synchronised but they go a bit 'scratchy' with speakers going in and out. This could be an unrelated issue, but it has only just started since resetting the speakers and adding them to my Home group.

I would also like to request that you, and the senior technicians look at this related support post,  if you haven't already, where others are having the same problem. I'm sure they'd appreciate your help.

I'll keep an eye on the glitchiness mentioned above, but if you think it is related please let me know - it seems a little coincidental that it has just started, but I am hoping it is just that! 

Thanks for your help. Looks like it may be sorted. 

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Hope that helps, Mike. Maybe a fix has been applied in the background and things are working again, after a reset? Fingers crossed.

Cheers.

Kam

Cheers. Kam

[Kambo]

@mikeyo UPDATE: Less than a day later, the problem is back...and possible now worse as one of the LG speakers keeps saying that it is not connected to wi-fi! I've update LG with this.🙃

[mikeyo]

Sorry to hear that @Kambo. I have resisted the urge to factory reset anything down here. There have been many horror stories in theads and play store about people trying to re-enroll hardware via the home app post the changes, so I have left it alone. Luckily some of the audio apps I use on my phone still have some control of the LG's when using them. Far from ideal, but it's something currently.

[Kambo]

Thanks @mikeyo . I'm the same as you - have to use apps to make it work. Had another response from LG but it talks about resetting them again and rebooting every device. Will have a think about that, but like you mentioned, it's pretty time consuming. Will probably get rid of them and replace them with new Google speakers - yet more money! Far from ideal and a very disappointing experience. Will keep you updated.

[mikeyo]

Not sure @Kambo why LG would be telling you to reset again other than they don't know what they are looking at or are stalling for time.

It's clear as can be, Google themselves called it out. They need to update the cast version currently baked into the speakers to 1.52.272222 for them to work as expected.  If they don't, essentially they become trash. Same applies to every other third party who made Cast compatible speakers. If they don't update this is not great for sustainability either, given effectively even mains powered speakers can now have a functional life of less than three years.

Google will not get a cent of my money buying their own branded speakers to resolve this. Half of my speakers are airplay compliant also, so I'll probably go down that path if they can't sort themselves out. I have a couple of old airplay speakers still kicking arround from 10 years ago that have more functionality now than previously, not less, as that ecosystem continued to expand capability.

Absolutely crazy stuff from Google and the third parties here, but to be honest, working in the tech industry, I'm not surprised by most of this. 

[Kambo]

Thanks @mikeyo . To be honest I don't think the person who contacted me this morning had escalated the issue or read this helpful thread, so I'll give them a nudge to read it properly and make sure that it goes to a senior tech. You're right though - it is nuts! 

[mikeyo]

@Kambo effectively all anyone needs to know from LG (or any of the 3rd party speaker suppliers) is if they plan on updating the cast version to the version defined by Google as one which is supported post the enforced changes. If yes great, please supply a timeline. If no, just say so. We can then commence consumer protection action is our relevant jurisdictions. Then LG,JBL etc can take their losses due to this fiasco up with Google. Pretty simple stuff. Anything else they offer in the meantime via support, resetting, restarting, etc etc is a waste of everyone's time. 

[Kambo]

@mikeyo Have sent LG a response asking that they read this thread and address the issue. 🤞🏽

[STEEEEVO]

I have a similar issue. 4 LG multi-room speakers and 4 Google home speakers on the same network. I can cast to an individual LG speaker, and can cast to all of the Google speakers plus one LG speaker in a group, but if multiple LG speakers are added to the speaker group they cut in and out.

I have reset and rebooted the LG speakers.

The LG grouping function works fine but that is not useful because one of the speakers is a soundbar and I definitely don't need my TV sound dispersed throughout the house. 

[mikeyo]

@STEEEEVO sounds as though your soundbar is running a older version of the cast firmware also. You can check that in the Google home app in device information for each speaker. Google has drawn the line in the sand for the cast firmware version required for things to work as expected now, so it's on the speaker manufacturers to update them. LG in particular seems to have had only limited firmware updates post the sale of their products to date. To be fair apart from the Google branded cast products (Chromescasts, Chromecast Audio and Hubs), not a single speaker from a third party I have has received an update in some time. I suspect that none of them thought ongoing updates would be necessary and Google's move post the Sonos suit came as a surprise to all of them. As it impacts their products in the wild, we can only hope they do the right thing. 

[Kambo]

@STEEEEVO @mikeyo The latest from me is that LG have looked at this in more detail and it has been escalated to head office for a resolution.  Would be great if they update the software and fix it. Realistically, they should do  as it makes it difficult to sell products which don't work as they should. I'll get back to you when I hear anything. If you haven't already, you may wish to submit a support ticket. Mine was via the LG UK site. The more people raise it, the more likely we'll get a fix. 

[STEEEEVO]

Thanks for the update! We'll keep our fingers crossed. 

[Kambo]

@STEEEEVO @mikeyo I found this on YouTube. Covers all the bits that @mikeyo originally mentioned. It's a shame that none of the bigger tech sites having given it the beans on their channels. Sometimes it's the only way that works. Interesting reference to the 'Device Utility App' and why this additional step is now required. I

[mikeyo]

Thanks @Kambo , unfortunately my take is no amount of coverage from tech sites will assist here. We need mainstream media stories outlining that it appears to be that what you buy, may not be what you get for any guaranteed period of time in Google's world. That's the story that needs to be told and the average person needs to be aware. I work in tech and I can't believe this sh|tshow.

I saw that video you shared a while back. The "device utility app" appears to be primarily for Google branded product. I tried that on my LG and JBL speakers early on with no joy. My understanding is Google can not update anything on 3rd party product, that's on the individual suppliers, but it was worth a Hail Mary shot. The one thing we do know is that Googles communication with customers in their ecosystem is really bad, and this ongoing silence is disgraceful. They will put this back on their partners no doubt. From what I can see some of them are already deleating their Chromecast lines. This does not bode well for anyone.

[Kambo]

Thanks @mikeyo I agree with everything you say - the only thing that will fix this is some kinda lawsuit to get Google to change it ways. Quite ironic really! 🙃

I tried the device utility app too and it did nothing. It's a shame that Google's response is to make sneaky changes in the background (which don't work) rather than just owning up to their customers with some honest communication. They'd at least get some understanding.

I've just had my porridge; guess it's bedtime for you, so sleep well. Night night! 🤣

[PaulieP]

The device utility app is for multiple brands of products.

I've used it to complete activation/setup for JBL, Sony, Lenovo and LG (WK7) Google Assistant speakers in recent history.

[fr3drick545]

I made the mistake of factory resetting it. Now it won't show up in Google home. Any ideas as to what to do? Thanks!

[STEEEEVO]

After you reset it and re-add it to the Music Flow network it should appear in Google Home but it will be at the very bottom as other devices that are not in a room. 

[PaulieP]

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@fr3drick545 wrote:

I made the mistake of factory resetting it. Now it won't show up in Google home. Any ideas as to what to do? Thanks!

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Use the Device Utility app. Also if using 5ghz, change your router settings to use channel 36 or lower for 5ghz, as that cured dropouts from my WK7s, HKs, JBLs, and Polks on 5ghz. Channel 36 is the only 5ghz channel that is reliable for all generations of Google Assistant speakers from all brands.

To double check, set it up on a 2.4ghz network instead. 2.4 is less problematic with the WK7s and Device Setup / GHome.

[PaulieP]

Also Google Pixel phones are more problematic, if you are using one you will likely need to use a different Android phone/tablet, or an iphone, to set up your WK7.

[absentspace]

I purchased a LG sk10y and Sk8y soundbars to use as multi room audio, LG has not updated these speakers beyond 1.36.145853. It’s been incredibly frustrating, and I now realize why Sonos has such ardent fans. 

[mikeyo]

@absentspace from my perspective the issue is that Google does not appear to have anything in place mandating that their 3rd party cast partners (like LG) keep their kit up to date within the Nest ecosystem. There have not been any functional issues by not doing so until now, but this pivot by Google arround the Sonos suit has now shown this weakness in full. I asked the question in another sting if Google gave their partners a heads up on this change, and It does not look like they did. Thus far no speaker I have from 3 different 3rd parties has received an update to the Google line in the sand post the sonos announcements. No wireless speaker I own is older than 3 and some are still available today. (and as expected all the Google kit I own has been updated as they can control that)

Unfortunately for us who own some, LG appears to have the oldest cast version of all and is currently the most broken in relation to speaker groups and control on nest hubs. So we all sit here with no idea as to if what we purchased will work any better than it does today (which is now very poorly) and communication from all sides is close to non exisitant. I hope LG do the right thing, but the longer this goes on, the less likely that is. 

[best74]

I'm seeing issues with my citation 200 also. Harman support is claiming that updating the cast version is Google's job..

[STEEEEVO]

I recently remembered that you can pair a Bluetooth speaker to a Google Home speaker. I had a spare Mini collecting dust in the closet so I paired that with one of my Musicflow's. I had to set the delay all the way up to 200ms for that speaker, but at least it's working mostly the way I would want it for my whole home set up.

Of course at that point any Bluetooth speaker would work, and that means I have to leave the MusicFlow on and set to Bluetooth all the time but I suppose that'll have to do.

[PaulieP]

I have the WK7 and about 7 other different types of speakers in my household. Are you operating your WK7 on your 5ghz network?

I did not think this made a difference until I tried it. Go to your router settings and change the 5ghz channel from Auto to channel 36.

This not only made my WK7 able to be set up on 5ghz without issue, it made it stay reliably connected, and also made all my other devices (including JBL Links and some Lenovo displays) stay reliably connected, stay in groups, and also stay in stereo pairs.

It does not sound like it works. But it does. So in case your Google Assistant audio devices (esp WK7) are on a 5ghz network, then try this immediately.

[AUser123]

I have the same problem. The LG speaker does not function as part of the home group anymore. Casting to a home group only casts music to the Google branded speakers and nothing goes to the LG one at all unless I cast to it individually.

[Mikeyo10]

These speakers are still running cast version 1.36.157053. Until LG update to version 1.52.272222 or better, we are going nowhere fast. Some manufacturers like Harmon have updated their cast capable speakers, others like JBL and LG have not. 

[PaulieP]

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@Mikeyo10 wrote:

These speakers are still running cast version 1.36.157053. Until LG update to version 1.52.272222 or better, we are going nowhere fast. Some manufacturers like Harmon have updated their cast capable speakers, others like JBL and LG have not. 

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JBL and Harman Kardon are the same company (Harman), I have several of both. JBL Link gen 1 (300's) and 2 (Portable and Music), as well as the HK Citations (C100 and C One's). The HKs are running Cast 1.52 and the JBL Links 1.44.

I don't have problems running the JBLs within groups at all. So I don't think 1.52 is a necessity, but something newer than 1.36 is - maybe.

Keep in mind, I have two Polk Magnifi Minis on the same network, running Cast 1.36 that also function just fine as part of speaker groups, when playing to the groups also. 

So I don' t know if Cast 1.36 is the causal reason you all think it is - it is likely more LG.

[Mikeyo10]

@PaulieP  the tip off that cast 1.36 is an issue is that the LG's running it no longer appear as part of speaker groups on my Nest Hubs. I use these as controllers in most rooms. So I can't control these LG's as part of a speaker group from the Google kit. I can control one if casting directly to it however.  Audio wise currently the LG's work in their groups, but as Google has called out, anything running pre 1.52.272222 may have issues. I have JBL 100's and 300's running 1.44 also and they are currently doing what they should. Unless they are updated to the current minimum recommended version, we can't say for how much longer as Google continue to make changes.

[PaulieP]

Yes It's unfortunate. My WK7s in groups are completely accessible and controllable, and also able to be played to easily in groups - as long as I'm not trying to do it from a Google product (Home Hub, Nest Hub, any Pixel phone).

Any non-Google Android device can easily play to a group and to the WK7 as a part of a group. Verified with a Samsung S9, generic Onn tablet, and Tab S4 earlier today.

Unless you want to swap out your Nest Hubs for Lenovo 7" smart displays, you may be stuck waiting for Google/Sonos spat to be settled.

[absentspace]

The lesson that I’ve learned is that you can’t rely on any 3rd party to support google integration for more than a couple of years. I spent $1800 on 2 LG atmos systems with built in Chromecast. It worked beautifully for about 18 months, and now no updates for maybe 2 years. 

[nealaissa]

I called LG and they told me the musicflow speakers (H3, H5, H7) and soundbar that I have are discontinued.  LG said they have no plans to update the cast version on these speakers. 

I grabbed an HDMI audio extractor to use with Chromecast, and this solves the problem to the soundbar.  Would be useful if Google still made the Chromecast Audio to pair with the speakers, however the H3s do not even have a 3.5 mm jack. 

LG just cut us loose. 

[Muddi]

Hey nealaissa,

Thanks for updating the Community forum of your resolution — it's a big help! Your feedback is highly appreciated and this will help us to make our product and services even better.

If you have any updates or just a discussion topic, feel free to start a new thread in the community. 

Cheers,

Muddi