Nest mini speaker Gen 2 voice changes on its own

[dragnwispr]

For a while now, the voice on my nest speakers (all 5 of them throughout the house) will randomly change between a male voice (that I have it set as) and a female voice. 
After testing various questions and commands, there seems to be no pattern. I can ask the same exact question two times in a row and get female one time and male the next. Or I can get female/male several times in a row. Or it can even switch mid-conversation where it answers and asks me a question in one voice, I reply, then it responds in the opposite voice. 
All speakers have gone through being reset completely, settings have been changed, and nothing helps. 
When will Google get this issue that so many out there are experiencing fixed?? I keep seeing threads just being shut down my Google people with no resolution. 

[Dan_A]

Hi dragnwispr,

That certainly isn't the experience we want you to have with your Nest Mini ― let's check it out and help you through this. Question: when you did the factory reset, was it the same steps as what you see on this link?

Could you try the commands on the Google Assistant app directly if you get the same response? If yes, it would help a lot if you could do a sequential reboot. 

1. Unplug the power cord of your router followed by your Nest speakers. 
2. Plug them back in after 3 minutes tops. 
3. Restarting your phone might also help.
    

If you're using an iOS device, please install the Google Assistant app on your phone and use the same account.

Monitor and keep us posted.

Best,

Dan

[dragnwispr]

I’ve done a factory reset on all of my speakers, and will start testing them over the next few days. So far, so good (it’s only been an hour, so we’ll see!)!

[dragnwispr]

Yes, the factory reset was done following those instructions. I’ve also unplugged the router and speakers as suggested and restarted my phone.  It did not help.

For the first day, I only got the voice I set it to (male). After that it’s back to randomly being female. 
It doesn’t matter what I ask/request. It can change in the same conversation. 

I’ve had the assistant app installed since getting my first mini speaker. I have not had the issue of the voice changing in the assistant app. Only one account is used. 
Everything is up to date. I’m on an iPhone 12 max.

Side note, since doing all of this, I now get delayed responses from the speakers, and farther away speakers are now responding randomly before the one I’m closest to. And sometimes I now get “hmm, something went wrong. Please try again later.” Even if the action/response was completed. I had this issue a few months ago, and somehow resolved it, but now it’s back. <sigh>

[Dan_A]

Hey dragnwispr,

Thank you for confirming. A few questions: are you the only one who has access to your Google Home? Are there no home members added? What country are you in? Do you only have one account active on your Google Home app?

Follow these steps to change your Google Assistants voice:

1. Make sure your mobile device or tablet is connected to the same Wi-Fi network or linked to the same account as your speaker or display.
2. Open the Google Home app.
3. At the top right, tap your account.
4. Verify that the Google Account shown is the one linked to your Nest speaker or display. To switch accounts, tap another account or Add another account.
5. Tap Assistant settings > Assistant voice > choose a voice.

If you can, try to monitor the voice change on only one device. Unplug the other Nest speakers and tell me how it goes. Also, if it persists, factory reset one of your Nest Mini and set it up using a different account.

Regards,

Dan

[dragnwispr]

Yes, I am the only one with access to my Google Home. There are no other members added. I am in the USA. Only one account is active in my Google Home account.

I unplugged all but one speaker on Monday. So far the voice has not changed, so I am slowly adding other speakers to see if there is an issue with multiple speakers. I am adding them one every 1–2 days based on my priority of needing them. Please do not lock the thread, I will update next week. 

[dragnwispr]

12 hours after plugging in the third speaker (all in separate rooms in the house, not close to each other), the voice started changing to female again. I’ve unplugged that 3rd speaker and still get both male and female responses. When I have time on Sunday/Monday I will set up one speaker to be on another account. Please give me several days to do testing after that, and do not lock the thread. 

[dragnwispr]

Update to that last reply, the voice change was on all three speakers. 

[Princesss]

Hi dragnwispr,

Thanks for trying the steps. Just to verify, it also happens when you try using a different account, is that correct? If yes, could you please provide us the cast firmware version of your Google Nest speakers?

To check which firmware version you're on, follow these steps:

1. Make sure your mobile device or tablet is linked to the same account as your speaker or display.
2. Open the Google Home app .
3. Touch and hold your device's tile.
4. At the top right, tap Settings Device information.
5. Under "Technical information," find Cast firmware: X.XXX.XXXXX.

Looking forward to your response.

Best,

Princess

[dragnwispr]

I just set up a different account today, so I do not know if it happens on a different account yet. I need several days to test it, as it is not something that starts right away in my experience. If I do not get a change in voice by tomorrow night I will start adding other speakers to that new account and see if it starts to change again the same as before, either with the number of days or number of speakers added since doing a factory reset. 
So to clarify, I am currently working on Dan_A’s last recommended step of changing accounts. I’ve only used one account, with only me having access, until today. Only one speaker has again been factory reset and added via a different account. 

[dragnwispr]

I factory reset one speaker yesterday and put it on a different account. Today the voice changed to female when it is set to a male. So far nothing has solved the issue. What’s next?

All of my speakers have the same firmware numbers. 

System firmware version: 324896


Cast firmware: 1.56.324896

[dragnwispr]

I factory reset one speaker yesterday and put it on a different account. Today the voice changed to female when it is set to a male. So far nothing has solved the issue. What’s next?

[Princesss]

Hello there,

Chiming in to see if you still need assistance with this. Hope the previous post helped. Let us know if you have additional questions, otherwise we’ll be locking the thread.
 

Best,

Princess

[dragnwispr]

Please do not lock this thread. Time is needed to do as asked and test things. 

[Rachael1234]

We are having the exact same issues, exactly as you are describing with all of our devices too! We've done the same steps. We are looking for a fix too, regretting our purchase.

[TYROD]

I have THE EXACT experience...drives me INSANE. Voice changing, speakers in other rooms responding,  CONSTANT "HMMM Something went wrong try again"..

Or it will start playing music, I therefore removed all the musical app options for it to play so now out of clear blue sky it will, without any prompting from me we say I'm sorry you have not chosen a music application please select one in the Google settings when I have not asked it to play music I never wanted to play music. Today I don't even know how to breach this issue but my male voice has now turned into an African-American male voice and I know that may sound racist but I think it's more racist on Google's part to add that to replace the regular voice that I'm used to hearing by saying well it is Juneteenth and therefore we want a black sounding man to speak during this day perpetuating the notion that black people speak differently from white people... and don't even think about people would appreciate it because I have talked to someone on a previous phone call call back to that number and they say well who were you speaking to and I'm just say it was an African-American lady and the black person that I'm speaking with it's very upset saying how do you know she's black so I don't think they would appreciate Google perpetuating that notion.  I'm very frustrated with my Google mini Chrome nest I have six of them and they're all going wacko. PS I made the mistake of cursing it it tell me that it didn't appreciate the language that it had feelings too and then that's when everything started going rap I almost believed that Google has sabotage my home mini chrome nests!!

[dragnwispr]

Another update. Since finding the issue continued when putting one speaker on a different account, I have since put it back on my original account and made sure it was removed from the new one. Now 95% of the time the. Once (on all speakers) is female and I have it set as male (pink). I’ve changed it to a different male, and same thing. So now it’s worse and beyond frustrating! 

[Dan_A]

Hello there dragnwispr,

We really appreciate you doing the steps provided. I would request a few more to further isolate if this is a device specific issue or purely a Google Assistant issue.

Aside from the Nest Mini, what other Nest speakers do you have and are they also having the same concern? Let’s try to have them in a speaker group and place them beside each other and replicate the issue if the voice changes. Here’s how:

1. Make sure your mobile device or tablet is connected to the same Wi-Fi or linked to the same account as your Chromecast, or speaker or display.
2. Open the Google Home app.
3. At the top left, tap Add > Create speaker group.
4. Tap each device you want to add to the group. A check will appear next to each device you select.
5. Tap Next > enter a name for your group > Save.

Hope this helps.

Best,

Dan

[dragnwispr]

I only have Nest mini Gen 2 speakers. I do have them all in a group so I can listen to YouTube music throughout the house, and even when that is happening the voice will go between male and female. It’s happened no matter if there was only one speaker plugged in or multiple, in different rooms or all together, on my original account or a new one. Again, I haven’t run into the issue using the assistant on my phone, but I have an iPhone so honestly it’s not something I use because why would I open up an app when I can just ask my speakers?

Side note, since doing all of these different tests, all pretty much the same ones I was asked to do for the Bluetooth constantly disconnecting, too, I am now getting multiple speakers responding to my questions/commands (and often one as a male and the other(s) as female!). I never had that issue before this. All speakers are back on my original account now. 

[Dan_A]

Hey there,

Much appreciated. A few more steps to follow:

• Uninstall updates of the Google App (G icon).
• Once done, remove the Nest Mini on the Home app.
• Perform factory data reset.
• Uninstall/reinstall the Google Home app.
• Set up the Nest Mini.

Keep us posted.

Regards,

Dan

[Dan_A]

Hey there,

I wanted to follow up and see if you still need help. Please let me know if you are still having any concerns or questions from here, as I would be happy to take a closer look and assist you further.

Thanks,

Dan

[dragnwispr]

I’ll be testing your last suggestion tomorrow. Sorry, I basically work 12/day, so it’s hard for me to find big chunks of time to do all of this resetting - I will be factory resetting and adding all of my speakers, not just one. I’ll definitely keep you updated!

[dragnwispr]

I’m not sure how to uninstall updates of the Google app on an iPhone, and searching Google did not give me any sort of answer. I deleted the Google app, and the assistant app. I removed the speakers from the home app, although they still showed as devices since they are on my network. I then did a factory reset on all speakers, uninstalled/reinstalled the Home app, and set them all back up. We will see how long it takes for the voices to change, if they do. I will certainly keep you posted! 

[dragnwispr]

I thought it might have fixed it this time, but this morning it’s back to being female, more often than the (pink) male voice I have chosen, on all speakers. (It doesn’t seem matter which male voice I choose.) 

[Dan_A]

Hey everyone,

A quick update! We are getting similar reports wherein the Assistant voice changes from male to female or vice versa. Our team is on top of this. We just need additional information that will help us further isolate the issue. Please make sure to provide the information below:

• Type of device
• Country

Also, it will be helpful for the team's investigation if you could send feedback immediately right after you experience the issue. Just say, "Hey Google, send feedback" followed by the keywords: GHT3 Assistant Voice keeps on changing. For more steps, please  visit this link.

Let us know once done.

Kind regards,

Dan

[Dcfifer]

Why does my Nest Mini often respond with the wrong Assistant voice? 

[JillG]

Hi @Dcfifer 

This is a known issue and support is looking into it. I also have this issue so really hoping they can get a fix out. 

In the meantime, send a feedback report the next time it happens. Just tell the Assistant to "Share feedback" and then record the issue.

Thanks

[Dcfifer]

Good to know, thanks! Not the worst issue, just jarring when a different voice comes out 😅

[MplsCustomer]

@Dcfifer 

We've been getting different voices for months now.

[Muddi]

Hey folks,

It's been some time since this thread was updated. Does anyone here need assistance?

@JillG: Thanks for your help here!

Cheers,

Muddi

[JillG]

Hi @Muddi 

I am still experiencing the voice issue intermittently.  

[Dcfifer]

I am still having the problem too. Half the replies are in the wrong voice. 

[Muddi]

Hey everyone,

Sorry for the lack of updates here. This is similar to a trending issue on this link wherein the Assistant voice is switching from male to female. You’ll receive all updates on this issue on the main thread, and we recommend updating and checking the thread when needed.

Cheers,

Muddi

[Dan_A]

Hello everyone,

We know how important this is for you — our team is already working diligently on a fix. We'll check back in once we have an update.

Kind regards,

Dan

[argrow]

And when might that be? It's been months of aggravation.

[yellak]

I'm opening this because it was linked with other issue and ignored.

Here is an example of what is happening.

My Google nest mini keeps answering me with female and male voices, and there's no pattern.

[RodolfoG]

Yes... Months went by and problem still persists.

- Hey Google. Set a 5 minute timer. 

- *replies in female voice-the one I didn't set* Sure. Five minutes. Starting now.

- Hey Google. Are you alright?

- *replies with the male voice I sat* I'm perfectly fine and happy to be here. Why do you ask?
- Hey Google, turn the fan on.
- *replies in female voice* Alright. Turning on fan.
-  No, Google. You are not perfectly fine.

[MplsCustomer]

We've been getting a mixture of voices for months. I can ask "Hey Google, what time is it?" and get an answer in a female voice and then immediately ask "Hey Google, what's the temperature?" and a male voice answers.

[argrow]

I have the same issue. Google has been useless in even trying to find a fix. It's been going on for months.

[Juni]

Hi folks,

Thanks for the help, @MplsCustomer.

This is not the experience that we wanted you to have; let me help you out. You can check which voice is set up on your Nest Mini by following the steps below.

1. Make sure your mobile device or tablet is connected to the same Wi-Fi network or linked to the same account as your speaker or display.
2. Open the Google Home app .
3. At the top right, tap your account.
4. Verify that the Google Account shown is the one linked to your Nest speaker or display. To switch accounts, tap another account or Add another account.
5. Tap Assistant settings Assistant voice choose a voice.

If this is confirmed, you can all do a sequential reboot. First, unplug your Nest speakers or displays for 30 seconds, then do the same thing to your Wi-Fi router to refresh both devices and your Wi-Fi signal. Once booted up, observe if this will make a difference.

Keep me posted.

Thanks,

Juni