Phone google assistant responds to 'hey google' not Home mini speaker

[MyPhone_Speaks]

Hi Folks,

First of all, I'll say I've tried everything here e.g. resetting unpairing, repairing, checking network, updates etc. etc. I have two home minis and have the same issue with both.

My issue is that when both my phone and home mini can hear me, only the phone responds even when the phone is further away or even in another room. And because the phone is commonly locked, I get a message saying I have to unlock the phone before it will respond to a request, which overall is pretty useless.

The google documentation says that in cases like this, only the google home device should response, and not the phone.

Can anyone help please?

Thanks.

[Dan_A]

Hi MyPhone_Speaks,

Warmest welcome from the Community team and hats off to you for doing all those necessary steps before posting, It narrows things down.

You might want to disable the Google Assistant on your phone depending on the settings but I don't think that's what you want. We can, in a way, make your Google Home Mini more sensitive about the magic words "Hey, Google". Follow the steps below:

1. Make sure your mobile device is connected to the same Wi-Fi or linked to the same account as the speaker or display.
2. Open the Google Home app .
3. Tap the device card of the preferred speaker or display.
4. At the top right, tap Settings Audio “Hey Google” sensitivity.
5. Use the slider to raise or lower the device's sensitivity to make it more or less responsive to "Hey Google".

Let me also give you this guide that you can check out for more information and troubleshooting.

Tell me how it goes.

Best,

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.

Regards,

Dan

[MyPhone_Speaks]

Thanks but the sensitivity is not the issue. The home mini has no issue detecting commands, but instead the phone responds first I effectively and blocks a response from the home mini. You are correct that disabling features on my phone is not a viable option. 

[Dan_A]

Hello again,

Apologies for the late reply. I need you to pull up this link. Follow the steps on how to update your Google App and check on the linked accounts. By the way, what phone do you use?

Thanks,

Dan

[MyPhone_Speaks]

As per my original post, this has already been done.

[Dan_A]

Hi MyPhone_Speaks,

I hear you and appreciate the things that you did. There's a few more that I need you to do and of them is for you to uninstall and reinstall your Google App then sign-in. By the way, what's the model of your phone?

Best regards,

Dan

[Princesss]

Hi MyPhone_Speaks,

Due to inactivity, I'll go ahead and lock this thread in 24 hours. Feel free to start a new thread if you need assistance with your Google speakers and we'd be glad to assist you further.

Best,

Princess

[MyPhone_Speaks]

Phone is a Samsung A52. I have already uninstalled and reinstalled the app.

[Dan_A]

Hey there,

Thank you for doing all those steps. If you don't mind me asking, how did you do the factory reset? Also, let's try this to see if your Home Mini is blocked by your phone's Google Assistant or is just not responding. Disable your phone's Google assistant first, then give command to your Home Mini. Make sure that the mic/mute button is enabled and tell me how it goes.

Thanks,

Dan

[MyPhone_Speaks]

Hi,

There has been no motion of a factory reset. The mini responds fine without the phone around.

Thanks

[Dan_A]

Hi MyPhone_Speaks,

Thanks for the reply. When you say no motion of a factory reset, has it not been done yet or has it been done but the same concern? If you haven't yet, here's how. Doing the factory reset will revert your Home Mini back to its default settings. After the factory reset, you need to set it back up again and this time, before you do the setup, could you use a different account specific for your Google Home Mini or should we try first the one that you already have?

Keep me posted.

Regards,

Dan

[MyPhone_Speaks]

I had already done the reset on the mini with no effect. Your mention of details to set it up again is unfortunately unclear.

[Dan_A]

Hi MyPhone_Speaks,

Thank you for doing the factory reset and apologies for the confusion. The set up was when you’ve done a factory reset but it seems there’s no need for it. Let’s look at a different angle here. Try to give the command starting with the keywords “Ok, Google!” instead of “Hey, Google!”. When you give the command, please be near your Home Mini for us to monitor if the behavior persists.

Best regards,

Dan

[MyPhone_Speaks]

Unfortunately that didn't work either. Can you please share why you think that might have made a difference.

What else is there to try before concluding that the mini is defective?

[Dan_A]

Hello there,

I know it’s been hard with what’s happening and we really appreciate the effort. There’s one more thing that we need to do for confirmation. Would you humor me by making this request ― try to move your phone as far away as possible where it cannot hear your voice. Then, give command to your Nest speakers and see if it responds or not.

I’ll be waiting for your response.

Thanks,

Dan

[MyPhone_Speaks]

Hi. My original message said that the issue occurs when both the mini and my phone can hear me. I have also already replied again saying that the mini responds fine when the phone is not around.

[Dan_A]

Hi MyPhone_Speaks,

Thanks for the information and the effort to take those necessary steps. We appreciate people who are keen on sharing their thoughts with us. We're always looking for ways to improve. Sending feedback helps Google fix the issue. Click here to submit a feedback. Let me know if you have other questions or concerns, otherwise I’ll be locking this thread after 24 hours.

Regards,

Dan

[MyPhone_Speaks]

Are my devices defective?

[Dan_A]

Hey there,

It's not the devices that are defective but there might be a chance the Google Assistant needs an update or system check. And sending feedback through your Nest speakers is needed.

Best,

Dan

[Princesss]

Hi MyPhone_Speaks,

We just want to check if you have seen our response posted above. It would be very helpful if you can send a feedback from your end and let us know what are the things we can improve. Feel free to let us know if you have additional questions, otherwise we'll be locking the thread.

Best,

Princess

[Juni]

Hello there,

We haven’t heard back from you, so I'll be locking this thread in 24 hours. Feel free to create a new one if you have more questions or have other concerns in the future.

Thanks,

Juni

[Princesss]

Hello there,

We just want to check if you have seen our response posted above. Let us know if you have additional questions, otherwise we'll be locking the thread.

Best,

Princess