Voice not broadcasting to speakers

[OSTBear]

I have a few different Google home speakers in my house. And over the last couple days whenever I use the broadcast feature, the bell dings in the other rooms of the house like a broadcast is incoming... But then it's total silence. 

This happens no matter which speaker I am using, And it also happens if I try to broadcast a message from my phone (Which, since we're here, broadcasting from my phone is such a pain now. I used to just press and hold that little. At the bottom and now I got to go through a whole bunch of crap to get it done.)

The speaker clearly hears me, I'm just not sure if it's getting the message, there's just silence on the other end.

I have already tried restarting devices, And allowing Google to record my voice data (Which I absolutely do not like).

Any help Would be appreciated

[OSTBear]

So after disabling Google Gemini from my phone, several of the speakers in the house are suddenly able to broadcast again. Not all of them Mind you. Some that are broadcasting our first gen and some of them are others. But also none of it is super consistent. It'll broadcast sometimes and not others. Will keep posting updates as I figure things out.

[Sgibson513]

I'm having an issue where all Nest Minis are not broadcasting voices. All other devices are broadcasting fine

[OSTBear]

With how often people end up complaining about issues with the speakers and their voices... You'd think this is something they would test.

[JJsomanytabs]

Am having the same issue.  Must be a bug.   I submitted feedback via my Nest Hub Max.

Similar reports also on reddit...

https://www.reddit.com/r/googlehome/comments/1j07vme/broadcast_no_longer_working/

[virnab]

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out to our community.

I’m sorry to hear that whenever you use the broadcast feature of your Google Home speakers, the bell dings in other rooms of the house like a broadcast is incoming, but then it’s total silence. Thank you for letting us know that this happens no matter which speaker you use, and it also happens if you try to broadcast a message from your phone. No worries, help is here.

Before I start further troubleshooting, let me ask you a few questions:

• Are you using an Android or an iPhone to control your Google Home speaker devices?
• What's the Google Home speaker device's color and number  firmware version?

• Is your Google Home app updated?
• Would you kindly confirm whether your Google Home speaker devices are linked to a 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz WiFi network?
• Are your Google Home speaker devices connected to the same WiFi network as your mobile device?
• Could you please check if there is wireless interference like walls and floors, nearby Wi-Fi networks, other electronics, cordless phones, baby monitors, microwaves, Bluetooth devices, and wireless video equipment between your Google devices and the router?

In the meantime, please verify if your home address information is complete in your Google Home app settings: town name, street address, state, and zip code. Here are the instructions:

• Open the Google Home app.
• At the top right, tap your account.
• Verify that the Google Account shown is the one linked to your Google Home speaker devices. If you find it is not the right account, you can switch accounts by tapping the triangle next to the Google account, then tap another account or “Add another account.”.
• Tap “Manage your Google account” and then “personal info.”.
• Under “Addresses,” tap Home or Work.
• Enter your address.
• Tap “Save.”

If the inconvenience persists, I recommend you refer to the following articles in the Google Help Center, and follow the troubleshooting steps suggested to resolve the inconvenience:

Make sure your device recognized the question correctly

Fix issues with "Hey Google" on a mobile device

Fix issues with “Hey Google”

Access Google Assistant with your voice

Turn on voice recognition with Voice Match

Turn on Personal Result: Allow personal results on your Assistant-enabled devices

Thanks for your kind attention, I will be looking forward to your reply.

Best regards,

Virna

[Sgibson513]

• Are you using an Android or an iPhone to control your Google Home speaker devices?
  • Android, but I we are using the speakers themselves to broadcast
  • Version 3.29.157.6
• What's the Google Home speaker device's color and number firmware version?
  • Coral and White. Firmware: 456944

• Is your  Google Home app updated?
  • Yes
• Would you kindly confirm whether your Google Home speaker devices are linked to a 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz WiFi network?
  • All working and non working devices are on the 5GHz network
• Are your Google Home speaker devices connected to the same WiFi network as your mobile device?
  • Yes
• Could you please check if there is wireless interference like walls and floors, nearby Wi-Fi networks, other electronics, cordless phones, baby monitors, microwaves, Bluetooth devices, and wireless video equipment between your Google devices and the router?
  • None

In the meantime, please verify if your home address information is complete in your Google Home app settings: town name, street address, state, and zip code. Here are the instructions:

• Already Done

[virnab]

Hi Sgibson513,

Thank you for your timely response and the comprehensive information you've provided. This information is really appreciated so that I can better assist you. I'm sorry to hear that the troubleshooting steps suggested did not help you recover the functionality of the broadcast feature on your Google Home speakers, but don’t worry; it is my pleasure to continue assisting you.

Please try the following recommendations:

• Make sure at least one member of the household has signed in to each of the speakers or displays.

• Make sure Do not disturb and Downtime settings are off.
• Check that all Google Home speaker devices are signed in to the same Google Account(s) as the originating device.
• Make sure the microphone is turned on:
• Speakers: On the back of your device, make sure the switch for the microphone is turned on. The switch is often orange or red when the microphone is turned off.
• Google Home: On the back of your speaker, press the microphone mute button to turn the microphone on or off. Your assistant will say whether you turned the microphone on or muted it.
• Check the speaker is not covered or blocked.
• Try muting and unmuting your Google Home speaker devices.
• Check the audio recording by opening the Google Home app, tapping the menu button, then “My Activity,” and tapping play to hear the latest voice commands.

If the inconvenience persists, I recommend you restart your device following these instructions:

1. Disconnect the power cable from your device.
2. Reconnect the power cable.
3. Try broadcasting a message to your entire home or to a particular room or device.

Please let me know how it goes.

Best regards,

Virna

[Sgibson513]

Hey Virna,

Quick question for you:

IF the mic switch on the back of the device was set to Off
AND I  said "Hey Google, Broadcast" 
Would the device respond and ask "Ok What's the message"
THEN would other Homes then chime and say "Broadcast from Guest Bathroom"

[OSTBear]

They have a script they copy and paste from so a lot of these questions are going to be kinda bonehead like that.

[virnab]

Hi Sgibson513,

I appreciate your inquiry about the operation of the broadcast feature while the microphone on the Google Home speaker devices is switched off. The answer is no; it would not occur.

Please let me know if you tried the troubleshooting steps suggested and if this information helped to resolve the inconvenience. It is my pleasure to continue assisting you.

Best regards,

Virna 

[OSTBear]

I tried the suggestions and they did not work.

[OSTBear]

I have verified all of these things, as mentioned in the original post, including that I use Android as specified in the labels.

I have restarted every device, and I've also restarted the WiFi to no luck.

on occasion, if I just broadcast to a single room, the broadcast goes through... but not all the time.

[virnab]

Hi OSTBear,

I appreciate you letting us know that after disabling Google Gemini from your phone, several of the speakers in your house are suddenly able to broadcast again. Thank you for mentioning that we still need to resolve the inconvenience with some of your devices.

I’m sorry to hear that after verifying all the previous recommendations and trying troubleshooting steps suggested, the inconvenience persists. Based on the information you’ve shared, I recommend you perform a factory reset  and set up the Google Home speaker devices that are not broadcasting.

Thanks for your kind attention. I will be looking forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,

Virna

[OSTBear]

This is every single speaker in the house. All of them are entirely intermittent. You think it's the best idea to factory reset all of them?

[realjax]

Well there you go. I was wondering how long it was gonna take before the ole 'reset to factory defaults' advice would come up.  Always suggested, never fixes the problem.

[OSTBear]

I have factory reset all of the devices, This has not fixed the issue. Potentially unrelated however, two of my devices now have trouble understanding commands? And these are any kind of command. Yesterday I asked the Google home to unpause a timer... And it started playing me news highlights from the CBC.

Just to be clear, resetting my devices did not do anything. Factory resetting my devices didn't do anything. This is a problem on Google's end.

[Harry4]

Hello,

the broacast function does't work correctly since 2 weeks.

If I say "Hey Google" do a broadcast I kann speak my message after the signal and the speaker confirms that it will send the message to all other speaker. On all other speaker a signal tone can be heard but not the message. On the Nest Hub the message is displayed but also not spoken.

The "dont disturb" function is deactivated on all speakers.

Any idea? 

[richj44]

I have nothing helpful to add other than, I'm experiencing the same issue.  I haven't changed any settings recently, it just stopped working.

[realjax]

Yep. Same problem here sigh... I find it unbelievable that the google engineers this one, very often used feature keep on messing up. Time and time and time again...

[Extreme_One]

Similar issue here but I can add a little more context.

I can broadcast to individual devices.

I cannot broadcast to multiple devices. 

I had automations that would broadcast to multiple devices: think "dinner time" which then broadcast a simple message to 2 nest minis in different rooms.

This used to work fine, now it doesn't. 

I have found a workaround. In my automation I need to separate the broadcast messages. I need to send a message to one speaker, then send a separate message, in the same automation, to the other speaker.

[janko10]

Has been going on for some time, no known fix as of now.  See this thread:

Re: Broadcasts have no audio at all, only text of ... - Google Nest Community

[Extreme_One]

• no known fix as of now

I have found a workaround. In my automation I need to separate the broadcast messages. I need to send a message to one speaker, then send a separate message, in the same automation, to the other speaker.

This now works and sends the audio broadcast.

[greyfoxsolid]

It is quite clear from all the posts all over forums like Reddit and various Google issue reporting groups that the broadcast function has not been working properly for months now. It used to work flawlessly, then later in the year last year, it started getting wonky. Now it barely works at all, and it's quite clear this is a widespread issue. No one from Google has addressed this on any forum I have seen. 

It is now time for answers and, furthermore, a fix. I've patiently waited for this issue to get fixed or even acknowledged. Now is the time.

[Tonyatl]

Got mine working by shortening the broadcast message to a few words. 

[greyfoxsolid]

You shouldn't have to do that.

[Tonyatl]

Of course you shouldn't but it works at least as a stop gap until the issue is resolved. Your welcome 

[Ashepherdson]

I have seen this as well, the shorter messages work, but longer ones do not.  Best thing to do is send feedback through the Google home app, as the devs see that.   This board is for public to public , not public to Google, so it will get less visibility. 

[basta25]

same... https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Speakers-and-Displays/Broadcasts-have-no-audio-at-all-only-te...

[realjax]

Oh, theyll put a bandaid on it at some point, like they have before..But lets not forget that google has become evil over time. There is a reason why this functionality gets broken time and time again. It most likely has to do with them messing about with our privacy by collecting our spoken messages in order to 'train' some AI crap program no one is waiting for. So until that 'AI' bubble bursts we are likely up that brown creek without a paddle. Our best bet is a) hoping someone will hack these google home devices so they can be used with something trustworthy like home assistants voice functionality or b) wait for the Chinese to come up with something that just works.

[nestbuilder]

I am about to dispose of all of our Google Home/Nest devices in favor of Alexa/Echo because Google Home offers no Intercom two-way solution and the broadcast feature has been very buggy for the past 3 months with several issues such as the issue with only sending the broadcast tone and no message, broadcasting a transcription and not the actual voice or not being able to broadcast to specific devices. Is there any immediate roadmap improving either of these features that has been announced before I replace all of the devices in the house?

[WilmaMo]

Following this post as I’m having the same issues with my nest 2nd gen. It will not broadcast to my other mini, but will broadcast from my hub only. This issue just started about 2 months ago and we’ve have our nests and hun for over 4 years now. 

[DixieChick]

I have Google home minis and Goggle nest minis. I used to be able to broadcast to all my devices. I recently changed WiFi/Router. All devises are on new WiFi and work OK.

However, when I try to broadcast a message from a speaker, it accepts my request, announces it will broadcast. The other minis around the house chime, as if about to receive the broadcast, but no message is played.

[Christoforadams]

This is probably related to the issue we’re seeing not being able to start music services on the chromecast audio

[Extreme_One]

Similar issue here but I can add a little more context.

I can broadcast to individual devices.

I cannot broadcast to multiple devices. 

I had automations that would broadcast to multiple devices: think "dinner time" which then broadcast a simple message to 2 nest minis in different rooms.

This used to work fine, now it doesn't. 

I have found a workaround. In my automation I need to separate the broadcast messages. I need to send a message to one speaker, then send a separate message, in the same automation, to the other speaker.

[janko10]

Known issue with no fix as of right now:

Re: Broadcasts have no audio at all, only text of ... - Google Nest Community

[Jrt20024]

Anyone having issues with broadcast the last free weeks. It was working fine then it just stopped. 

I have a mix of Gen 1/2 mini’s a hub and hub max and we use it often. 

I restarted all the devices and switched the broadcast feature off and on and it worked for a day then it stopped again. 

anyone else having issues?

[rbairwell]

Yep, broken for us as well on all 3 devices (1 Home, 1x Gen 1 Mini and 1x Gen 2 Mini). At most we get a "beep" but no message. I do wish Google would stop breaking this basic functionality.

[Jrt20024]

Got it functioning somewhat with room to room if you say the specific room but it’s not consistent. Very painful. This is one of the reasons we have google home. May have to look at Alexa if this continues 

[TheFluxmaster]

Broken here too