Google Fixes Bug Affecting Nest Devices’ Assistant Responses
Over the past few days, Google Nest device owners have been encountering frustrating issues where their Google Assistant stops responding to basic voice commands like “What’s the weather?” or “What time is it?” While this bug left many users confused and reaching out to Google support without resolution, the company has now deployed a fix, assuring users that “all should be up and running now.”
The issue first emerged earlier this week, as Nest users on platforms like Reddit began reporting that their devices—ranging from the Nest Mini to the Nest Hub Max—would fail to respond to simple requests. As one user described on the Google Home subreddit, the device would cycle its lights for 15 to 20 seconds, only to end in failure. Despite attempts to fix it through factory resets, the problem persisted for many.
Interestingly, while the assistant failed to handle basic tasks, some Nest devices were still functional for more complex tasks, such as controlling smart home devices or playing music. This provided some users with partial functionality, but the lack of response to everyday queries was a major annoyance.
After investigating the problem, Google confirmed the bug and has now rolled out a solution. While Google also mentioned ongoing investigations into the root cause of the issue, it’s clear the issue was isolated to certain Nest devices. Additionally, Google has been testing its Gemini AI model on select Nest devices, which could be a part of the changes affecting Assistant’s behavior. The Gemini model, which handles more in-depth queries, may have contributed to these hiccups, while Google Assistant continues to manage basic voice commands.
For users experiencing no issues, such as this writer’s own quick tests with the Nest Hub and Nest Audio, it seems the issue has been effectively resolved.
