Older Google Home devices are acting up – and users are frustrated

Phone Arena

22-07-2025

Google's smart speakers and hubs have recently begun experiencing some serious bugs, according to users on Reddit, spotted by Android Authority. The issues are present especially in older Nest hubs and speakers that have become less reliable over the years. It is not the first time we're hearing about concerns with these specific devices.Users report that the devices are having trouble understanding voice commands and following true. A user reports that almost nothing works, and they keep receiving an error message that "something went wrong". The reported issues are all sorts of things. People say the devices are not hearing the commands right or that there are delayed responses. Some people have observed the devices performing the wrong actions or even completely ignoring commands. Simple things like turning the lights on or off, playing music in specific rooms, or running morning routines are reportedly not working as intended on the affected devices anymore. Unfortunately, those seem not to be just a few isolated instances. It appears more to be a pattern. These features have previously worked flawlessly, but are becoming erratic or non-functional. One person has experienced their device not being able to play white noise in their child's room, but instead playing white noise in the room the user is currently in. There's another reported issue: a strange occurrence when the weather forecast gives different results depending on who's asking. There are also malfunctions reported, such as turning off a fan, resulting in turning off the lights. At the moment, the exact cause of the issue is not clear, but it seems these issues affect older Google smart home devices. Some users suspect the worsening functions of the devices to be somewhat related to Google's upcoming Gemini integration. It's also possible that we're talking about planned obsolescence as well. I think that for anyone who's built their daily routines around these devices, this kind of glitchy behavior can be genuinely frustrating. It's especially tough for people who rely on these devices for accessibility or for helping with kids.
Hopefully, Google is already on it and we'll see a fix soon. But it does make you wonder: are these older devices just being left behind on purpose, or is it all just growing pains before a big new update like Gemini? Either way, it's something that needs attention, because smart homes are supposed to make life easier, not harder.