Hub photo's freezing, again

[jp23]

I reported this issue months ago and saw the many responses of people having the same issue. Finally there was a recommendation from Google to enable the "Preview Program" for the device in the Google Home app, which I did (firmware version 11.20230306.3.135). This worked, for awhile. The frame is now freezing again and no amount of restarting seems to clear this up.

What changed from what appeared to be a fix to it now not working again? Thank you.

[Muddi · Accepted solution]

Hey everyone,

Sorry to hear that your photos are freezing again. I've shared these reports with our team, and we're looking into this. We appreciate your patience and understanding!

Cheers,

Muddi

[GameraFan]

Well, looks like leaving the Preview Program will not help.  Yesterday, they updated Production to the same buggy .135 firmware per the chart at https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/7365257?hl=en#zippy=%2Ccurrent-production-firmware-vers......

Current Preview Program firmware version

Device Firmware version What's included in this software update

Google Home	1.56.5.356012	Bug fixes and improvements
Google Home Mini	1.56.5.356012	Bug fixes and improvements
Google Home Max	1.56.275994	Bug fixes and improvements
Google Nest Mini	1.56.5.356012	Bug fixes and improvements
Google Nest Audio	1.56.5.356012	Bug fixes and improvements
Google Nest Hub	11.20230306.3.135	Bug fixes and improvements
Google Nest Hub Max	11.20230306.3.135	Bug fixes and improvements
Google Nest Hub (2nd gen)	11.20230306.3.112016	Bug fixes and improvements

Current Production firmware version

Device Firmware version What's included in this software update

Google Home	1.56.5.356012	Bug fixes and improvements
Google Home Mini	1.56.5.356012	Bug fixes and improvements
Google Home Max	1.56.275994	Bug fixes and improvements
Google Nest Mini	1.56.5.356012	Bug fixes and improvements
Google Nest Audio	1.56.5.356012	Bug fixes and improvements
Google Nest Hub	11.20230306.3.135	Bug fixes and improvements
Google Nest Hub Max	11.20230306.3.135	Bug fixes and improvements
Google Nest Hub (2nd gen)	11.20230306.3.112014	Bug fixes and improvements

[Jimsharron2023]

@KiiFromGoogle@Muddi

Are either of you noticing this again?

[butcher99]

  The freezing?  Yes.  that is what this new thread is about as you closed off the old one.  .134 was just fine.   Then you went to .135 and it is worse than ever.   How do we go back one version?

[Jobi]

Clown Shooz.

[GameraFan]

Haha.

Everyone should submit a bug report.

[Slooffmaster]

Another thread here:

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Speakers-and-Displays/Nest-Hub-Photo-Frame-Freezing-AGAIN/m-p...

maybe it helps consolidate everything here.

[Slooffmaster]

pinging @MplsCustomer

[Jobi]

Please pickup the white courtesy phone @MplsCustomer 

[MplsCustomer]

@Slooffmasterand @Jobi 

I'm not sure what you're seeking from me or how I'm supposed to respond, but our Photo Frame capability on our Nest Hub Max is not freezing.

[GameraFan]

Which firmware is on your Max?

[butcher99]

.135   All I want is to go back to .134 so it stops freezing up again.  Seems that may not be possible.    I even did a hard reset and it stayed at .135

[MplsCustomer]

@GameraFan 

System firmware version: 11.20230306.3.135
Cast firmware: 1.69.362882

(And I'm NOT on the "Preview" version; I waited for a month when it first became available and didn't get on, so I then took myself off.)

Our Nest Hubs (where we do NOT use Photo Frame) are on the same versions, except for our one 2nd Gen Nest Hub, which is on:

System firmware version: 11.20230306.3.112014
Cast firmware: 1.69.362882

[butcher99]

   Yours may not be but a lot of them are.  What version of software is it running?  If 134 no it is not freezing.   I turned on preview because my max was freezing in the .12? version and it eventually went to .134 where it stopped freezing.  I forgot to turn off preview and it went to .135 and we are back to freezing again..   

[Slooffmaster]

Hoping you would be able troubleshoot this issue being a Bronzemember😉

[MplsCustomer]

@Slooffmaster 

Sorry. I'm just a Google Nest customer who comments a lot.  Some of Google Nest's defects affect all customers who are using a feature (like the current failure of "Visitor announcements" to livestream automatically to a user's Nest Hubs) while others (like this issue) affect a subset of customers. And we as customers seem to be on our own to figure out how to identify that subset.

All I can add on this as a start on identifying/narrowing the subset is that we have "Art Gallery" selected, with a "Slideshow speed" of 10 minutes.

[GameraFan]

Ah, that’s the difference. Freezing is happening when using Google Photos. 

[butcher99]

 Got ahold of so called customer service.   They person I talked to said he would escalate to someone and to expect a reply in 4 to 24 hours.  That was a week ago.

[Jobi]

Hot fix I got from another thread. Switched my speed from 30 seconds to 1 minute. Left it on 1 minute for like 10 seconds then switched back to 30 seconds. Hasn't froze for like 12 hours.

[Jobi]

Forget it. Froze again.

[Jimsharron2023]

@Muddi

@KiiFromGoogle

We are all experiencing the photo frame freezing problem once again. Apparently only on the photo setting, not the art gallery. Could you please look into this once again.

[PAA]

Ditto, same exact thing happened on our nest hub max. Worked on 134, broke on 135

[PhotoFrameCrap]

Nest Hub Photo Frame is configured to display active albums from my Google Photos.  The display regularly ignores the configured 10 minute slideshow setting and either gets stuck on a single image for hours on end or cycles through images rapidly after mere seconds.

• I have power cycled: My phone, my router, my modem, my Nest Hub
• I have ensured all devices and the Google Home app are updated
• My Nest Hub is within 10 feet of my router and has full signal strength
• There are no other devices or structures between the Nest Hub and my networking equipment that would cause sufficient interference to break the network connection unless power is disconnected

At times the photo frame works as expected, but most of the time it's in this failure state where it apparently does whatever it feels like.  This has persisted since the day I got the device.

Does anyone have an actual solution, or is it only the tired corporate nonsense from Google telling us to reboot the devices and "wait for the engineers to fix it"?

[Juni]

Hi there, 

Thanks for reaching out. Our team is aware of this behavior and is still looking further into the issue. I'll merge this with the similar trending issue on this thread in the community. I suggest that you follow the main thread for updates because this thread will be locked automatically once it is merged into the main one.

Regards,

Juni

[Specter_one]

I've searched the forum and read almost all similar issues reported BUT I do not see a final resolution to this. Is google fixing this issue up or letting it's users hang dry as I see this issue reported over and over again the past months and even year (I've seen it being reported back in 2022). 

Stop asking us to test with Live Album, reboots, and sending feedbacks when the issue itself has been reported countless times with almost to no resolution. We need a confirmed release date and not "engineering is looking into this" or "has been escalated internally".... 

[Muddi]

Hi Specter_one,

We appreciate your patience. Our team is aware of this and working on a fix. As part of our efforts to keep everyone informed, I will duplicate this thread in the main one. Please note that once moved, this original thread will be locked.

Cheers,

Muddi

[eeeee]

See recent messages in this thread https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Speakers-and-Displays/Hub-photo-s-freezing-again/m-p/473706/ 

If you join the Preview Program and get the 12.* version, they seemed to have fixed it finally.  (But we said that last time, and then they broke it again...)

[PhotoFrameCrap]

I already have mine set to 10 minutes.  Changing the duration makes no difference.  My Nest Hub seems to do whatever it wants, freezing on one image for hours on end or blasting through images in rapid succession after mere seconds.  And no, this isn't a network issue.  My hub is 10 feet away from my router with no obstructions and full signal strength.

[317474]

This work around restarts the slide show…. until it stops again. 
Not really a viable solution.

[317474]

This quick fix works for a VERY short time, then problem reoccurs.

[Joshs]

Ok. Thanks. Will try it. When will I know that the update rolled out. 

[SRN13]

I commented some time ago that I too had this issue.  I was able to get it resolved by switching my device to "Preview" as recommended by others in a previous thread (since close by Princess, Community Specialist).  However, after having worked fine for a few weeks, it's not back to being a completely worthless POS.   

I have live albums selected and have had the same three for several years.  My photo frame freezes whenever someone walks in the room.  The only way to get it going again is to swipe to the next photo (interestingly, it will not allow me to swipe to see the previous photo).  Unplugging to reset doesn't solve the issue.  I've even turned the camera and mic off, and even more interestingly, it still happens with these turned off.  Of course this is concerning because, if the camera and mic are off, how does the Hub know someone entered the room?  

Of note, once I clear the problem by swiping to the next photo, it will show photos from the albums as is should.  It will freeze again when someone else enters the room, or after  I have again after being out of it for short bit. 

One of its MAIN selling points doesn't work.  And Google knows about it.  So why is this still an issue?  And how many complaints does it take to fix?

[Muddi · Accepted solution]

Hey everyone,

Sorry to hear that your photos are freezing again. I've shared these reports with our team, and we're looking into this. We appreciate your patience and understanding!

Cheers,

Muddi

[SriramTV]

I still see the issue while some time it gets fixed automatically but not always. Do we have an ETA on when this can be fixed?

[vilasi1]

Hi @Muddi ,

Thanks for the update and confirmation that the Google team is looking into this issue.  I am sure you understand how frustrating this is to all your customers, especially when the issue has been around for 6+ months and what appeared to have been fixed a month back has broken once again.  We cannot be going through it like this every now and then.

[SteveE1]

Hi Muddi, yep, mine are now freezing again as well

[317474]

Re Photo Frame freezing…..

Hey Muddi, this reoccurring problem is getting beyond a joke. Are your tech experts still working on a solution or is it now in the “too hard” basket? 
The main reason I purchased the Google Nest Hub was for the photo slide show feature. Is a solution imminent (it's been months now).

Do you know anyone who wants to buy a secondhand Nest Hub? I’d love to get rid of mine and find a competitors product that actually works!!!!!

I can’t believe your people haven’t fixed this problem in the last 3 or 4 months!

id love to hear your prompt response.

[Bobj10]

Muddi, using a Gen2 hub, the photo frame freezes randomly. Going into the app you can manually force a new photo. When this happens, the photos on the hub now show one after the other ignoring the amount of time set in the app. It is as though the blockage was temporarily cleared and a string of photos go through.

[SteveE1]

My photo frame is still freezing, any news on a fix for this?

[SteveE1]

Hi Muddi, any answers as yet? Been going on for months now, would have thought technical teams would have been able to resolve this given so many people are reporting it

[Gbouton]

Thanks for the continued updates. My wife finally opened her hub and got it set up with pictures of our kids and we're experiencing this issue. Please let us know when a fix has been pushed out.