Nest Hub Max no longer playing audio on speaker group

[rhammond84]

Nest Hub Max is no longer playing music on the speaker group it is in when asked. All other speakers in the speaker group play, and I can manually add the Hub Max back into the group whilst playing audio through the display interface. 

Am presuming this is an issue with latest preview version firmware/cast firmware?

System firmware version: 12.20230611.1.59

Cast firmware: 1.70.375332

[Alex_S]

Hi rhammond84,
 

I know how it feels when something isn’t working the way it should. Let’s further look into it. Just to ask, is Google Nest Hub Max playing music on its own? Try to create a new speaker group with only 2 Google Nest devices in it: Google Nest Hub Max and another speaker or display, and then try to play music to that group.
 

Let me know how it goes.

Regards,
Alex

[Archibald]

Hi,

I have the same issue, running the same firmware. This started for me on August 26.

I have a group of four speakers named “All speakers”. This group is default speaker for the Nest Hub Max and a Nest Hub.

Speaker 1: Nest Hub Max
Speaker 2: Nest Hub
Speaker 3: Nest Mini
Speaker 4: Chromecast Audio

When I use voice command on Nest Hub Max to play music, or cast from my phone to the group, there is only audio on two of the speakers – speaker 3 and 4.

Well, at least that was the case until I removed all speakers from the group except speaker 3 and used this “one speaker group” as default. I then added the others one by one and as the last one the Nest Hub Max. Then it suddenly worked again on all speakers – for a while. I was able to start and stop music with voice commands from all units a few times, until it suddenly stopped working again. Now I’m back to zero – only speaker 3 and 4 playing.

So - when creating a group with the Nest Hub Max and one other speaker there is audio on both units.

If I set the Nest Hub Max as default speaker, I can manually add the other units one by one through the display, but when pressing the “All speakers” group icon I get various results. Sometimes the playing icon switches to “All Speakers” but the audio isn’t changed - or it just buffers and after a while returns to default speaker.

Hope this info can help tracking what’s wrong.

[rhammond84]

The Nest Hub Max plays audio by itself.

I have Nest Hub V1s on separate speaker group (but on 'same' V12 Fuschia preview firmware) that work fine as part of speaker group: 2 Nest Hub V1s and an original Google Home.

Experimenting a little with some test groups, per other poster, in some combinations speaker groups work with the Nest Hub Max and in others they don't.

Nest Hub Max, Google Home Max and Google Home Mini (V1) speaker pair: audio doesn't play on Nest Hub Max.

Same for combo involving Google Home original, vs Google Home Mini pair. 

If I add. Nest Hub V1 (also on preview firmware) instead of the devices above, both the Nest Hub Max and the Nest Hub V1 do jot play audio.

Adding Nest Hub Max, Google Home Max and Nest Mini (V2) to a speaker group all works fine. 

[rhammond84]

When will this bug be resolved? 

[Alex_S]

Hi everyone,
 

Our team would like to take a look at this. Kindly fill out this form and let us know once you're done.

Kind regards,
Alex

[Archibald]

Hi Alex,

Thanks for your help. I have filled out the form.

Best regards,
A

[Dan_A]

Hi folks,

@Archibald, we got your form; thanks for filling it out. Please continue the conversation there and keep an eye on your email for updates.

@rhammond84, we haven't received your form. Have you had a chance to fill it out? 

Thanks,

Dan

[rhammond84]

Yes, I completed it last week

[Muddi]

Hello everyone,

Sorry for the delays. Just an added question: is the Nest Hub Max added to multiple groups? To further isolate the issue, please set up your Nest Hub Max and one speaker on a different network, like a mobile hotspot. Please note that you will need two mobile devices for this setup (one to serve as a router and the other to be used to set up your speakers). Also, make sure to remove your Nest Hub Max from the Google Home app first before resetting it.

If a hotspot is not available, try creating a new home structure on the Google Home app, then move your Nest Hub Max and one speaker to the new home. Once done, create a speaker group and check if you still have the same issue.

Keep us posted.

Cheers,

Muddi

[Traxtar944]

The hub is in one group. The network is not the problem. Removing, resetting, and re-adding does not fix the problem.

[Muddi]

Hi there,

Thanks for the information, @Traxtar944. It is best if you could try connecting two of your devices on a different network to check if you'll still have the same issue.

@bpcs:  I appreciate it. There's a new update on the speaker group: Google Home and Nest speakers or displays, Chromecast, Google TV (4K,HD), and Pixel Tablet (Hub Mode) can only belong to one speaker group in the Google Home app. For more information about the update, you can visit this article: Create and manage speaker groups

Cheers,

Muddi

[Traxtar944]

I have attempted to try a different network without success in resolving the issue.

I'm running app version 3.5.1.4

I currently have multiple nest minis in more than 1 speaker group and they work fine.

Why would Google limit functionality that was working fine a few weeks ago? That's extremely frustrating if true.

[rhammond84]

My devices are all in multiple groups. I can still create new groups duplicating those devices without at error message in the home app. 

I note though that all the devices referenced in the support link are on the newer cast firmware. I presume some change has been made and support teams have misinterpreted the constraint, or a temporary bug has been introduced. Limiting devices to one group only is design feature breaking! 

[Davidsdesk]

Sonos lawsuit.

[bpcs]

Thanks Muddi. I don't know why the speaker groups are now limited to one only... that's a big step backwards in my opinion. At least I know now and can stop trying to "fix" it.

Hopefully there will be an update to get multiple speaker groups back again???

[bpcs]

Just to add to what I just said, there is still an intermittent issue getting the Hub Max to be part of the one only speaker group. It can be added after the speaker group starts playing, but most the time the Hub Max doesn't join the assigned group from the start.

[bpcs]

A further note...

My Nest Audio, Nest Mini V2, Nest Mesh WiFi Point speakers all "stick" in my assigned speaker group (the one group only now allowed after the update), but my Nest Hub Max and Nest Hub Mini V2 Hubs do not "stick" in the speaker group and need to be manually added back in after playing media commences.

[Traxtar944]

I'm also working with Google Support on ticket 4-8639000034716.

Hopefully that helps bring these separate cases into a single issue ticket so redundant work is not being done to resolve it.

[rhammond84]

Any news on this? Has been broken for several weeks. Shouldn't the preview firmware version at least be reverted until solved? 

[Traxtar944]

Alex, please review Google support ticket 4-8639000034716

[Muddi]

Hey folks,

Thank you for providing this information. I will share it with the team and keep you updated on this thread.

@Traxtar944: Please note that existing speaker groups will not be affected. However, if you create a new speaker group, you will no longer be able to add speakers that are already included in an existing group.

Cheers,

Muddi

[Traxtar944]

Why would Google downgrade important features in such a significant way?

Adding speakers to multiple groups has been an integral part of casting audio since it was first introduced years ago.

This has been an extremely disappointing experience with Google Home products... I'm less and less inclined to maintain a Google environment in my home. I'm sure others agree.

[Youckle]

This is breaking my Google Home! 
I couldn’t add a Nest mini to existing groups after I switched it’s WiFi setup. And now, after following advice to delete my existing groups, I can’t create speaker groups at all. 

this is breaking a good product/ ecosystem. And a major write off on my investment in Google Home devices. 

how can anyone with an IQ above 83 decide this is an okay change? Has Google completely lost touch with it’s customers?

[Davidsdesk]

Done. I have a house and a business full of Google products that have become unreliable and time consuming. I realize that the Sonos lawsuit has create a challenge for Google, but with only one speaker group and no verbal voice control, your product does not perform. I’m eager for your reply and a solution. Thanks.

[MittyOZ]

I have also filled out this form and this issue is still occuring (eg a Nest Hub added to a group does not play anything when you ask Google to play something through the group either via voice control or via an app/google home interface).  The only way it will play is if you add it manually through the touch interface or via the app (eg youtube music) or the google home app.  

[KSed]

Filled it out. Nest Home Max won't play nice with casting to it in ANY group - only by casting directly to it (since about September 2023).

[ShaqAgain]

This was September 2023. When you will either announce/release a fix or address that this feature loss is yet another nerf for your customers following the Sonos lawsuit? It was working perfectly fine and now my nest hub max has to be manually added to groups it belongs to every time without fail.

[SoundInTheory]

Does not work. 

[bpcs]

I'm on the same FW and Cast FW and have noticed exactly the same issues. Hopefully it will be resolved soon.

[Traxtar944]

I'm having the same issue on my Nest Hub Max running the same firmware. Hub will not play audio when the speaker group it's in is selected. I can manually select the radio button next to the hub and only then will it start to play along with the speaker group.

Home Assistant, which pulls speaker groups from Google integration via API, shows that the hub is missing from the group, even though it's included in the group when viewed from the Google Home app... So that could help point to what's causing this issue.

[bpcs]

Very well explained... that's exactly what I am experiencing too. It's frustrating as everything was working fine before something was updated.

[solidaudio]

Same issue happening for me too. 

[bpcs]

Thanks Muddi. I will see if I can try setting up separate networks.

For further information, I now cannot create a second speaker group at all (except for the exception described below). I have been deleting, recreating, rebooting etc, and I can only have one speaker group (I have Hub Max, Hub Mini V2, Nest Audio, Nest Mini V2, Samsung Q990C Sound Bar). If I try to create a second speaker group with any combination of speakers, the second speaker group disappears, unless the second speaker group contains the Samsung Q990C Soundbar, and then the second speaker group does "stick", but it will only contain the Samsung Soundbar (the other Google speakers disappear). Bizarre, isn't it?

Muddi, you have been very helpful in the past, so thank you for taking and interest here.

[Ghoulish]

Hi.
I have a similar issue to others in this thread. I bought all my kit about 18 months ago.

4x Nest Mini's Gen2
2x Nest Hub's Gen2

Initial setup was without issue. I assigned reserved IP addresses to al devices, created a home group and was able to cast music across all devices in the group and life was good. This all changed a few months back and I have had several goes at resolving it, re-creating the group, factory resetting the devices, rebooting the router, reverting back to DHCP for all devices, etc, etc with no resolution.

The issue that has occured is when all devices are in the same group (I only use one group) and I try to cast music to all devices the music only comes out of one hub (I'll call this the primary hub). No music comes from any other device. If I dissolve the group I can cast music to any individual device successfully.

I have found that if I create a group with one Nest Mini in it and start casting music to it, the music plays successfully. If I individually add additional devices one at a time to the group while casting each device will start playing the music. This includes the hubs however the hubs do not show the play music interface and just show a symbol like an upright torch on the screen. If I stop casting music to this group and then attempt to cast to it again the music will only play from the primary Nest Hub, this time with the play music interface up but there is no sound from any other device.

If I create a group with only the 4x Nest Mini's in it I can successfully cast music to those without any issue and everything works as it should.

If I create a seond group with only the Nest Hubs in it and attempt to cast music to it, music will only play from the primary hub and there is no sound from the secondary hub even though both devices have the play interface displayed on the screen.

All of this leads me to believe there has been a firmware update in the background that has affected the hubs in an adverse fashion. I would be grateful for a resolution to this.

[bpcs]

Yes... there has been a change to software/ firmware that has caused these problems, but, if you look back in this discussion, you will see reference from member "muddi" (who is knowledgeable and a tech that helps out a lot) that shows that Google intends this to be the "new" behaviour. You can only create one speaker group now... so delete your groups and make just one group. I find that then my Hub Max, Hub Minis and all my other speakers reliably play to this single group. If you try and create a second group, it just doesn't work anymore. I hope that Google changes this rule... it makes no sense to limit people to one speaker group only.

You might have to delete the Google Home App cache and reboot the entire network before it settles down to playing your (one only) speaker group.

[rhammond84]

I've deleted all speaker groups and ensured devices are only in one - this still doesn't work.

Let alone being completely unworkable when have approximately 20 speakers/devices across the property that need to be divided into separate and sometimes overlapping speaker groups dependent on circumstance. 

[Youckle]

Thanks for your detailed workaround. But this can’t be the final solution to the problem Google has created?

And (again) why change this feature to it’s current state at all? Just one step away from just being very expensive paperweights

[bpcs]

Hopefully not... I hope Google has a reason for this and that it is only a temporary restriction. Having a few speaker groups makes sense... sometimes you want music in different parts of the house

[Ghoulish]

Thanks for your response however if you re-read my second paragraph, 'I only use one group'. I created a second group with only the hubs as part of my trouble-shooting. I only want one group as that is all I need for my requirements. It used to work absolutely fine as 'one group'. It is only since these firmware updates that we have no control over that it doesn't work anymore. If a hub is introduced into my 'one group' of nest mini's the group no longer works. Thanks.