Google confirms Home devices are facing widespread breakdown
What happens when a digital assistant decides it no longer wants to help you? In what is either a case of a sentient digital uprising, or just a software bug that Google is scrambling to fix, owners of a Google Home smart speaker may be waking up today to realize their daily dose of traffic conditions and weather updates are not being delivered to them on a cloud-based silver platter as usual.
First brought to attention by a user on the official Google Home Help Forum a few days ago, many users are discovering that every single "OK, Google" request they make to the digital speaker is being met with an automated error message.
Accounts from other users who chimed in on the help forum show that the response is usually either "Sorry, something went wrong" or "There was a glitch. Try again in a few seconds."
Google has taken ownership of the issue and replied, "We are actively investigating this matter and we greatly appreciate all the feedback and reports from everyone. Please bear with us while we continue to work on this."
Some users have reported that restarting the device by unplugging it and plugging it back in will fix it -- but only for a matter of minutes before it starts spewing the automated error messages again.
The Google Home speaker is powered by Google's Assistant platform, which is also available on Android and iOS phones, as well as Android Wear smart watches, although this problem appears to be confined to the Home speakers.
Google is encouraging users to use the "Submit Feedback Report" in the companion Google Home app after they receive one of the omnipresent error messages. Users have to use the companion app because trying to submit an error report from the Google Home device itself will simply result in another error message.
The smart speaker space is currently dominated as a duel between Google Home and Amazon's Echo line, known for its voice-activated name "Alexa." Any blemish on either platform is good news for the competitor, as evidenced by some of the additional comments on the ever-growing forum post.
"Google Home started glitching constantly. Amazon DOT never skips a beat. Boo to Google," writes one user. "My Amazon Echo Dot which is further from router than [Google Home] never had an issue; perfect responses and recognition and so is now our primary device since [Google Home] has become almost unusable," writes another.
And just to add to the perfect timing of the situation, Apple is poised to announce its own Siri-powered smart speaker today as its annual Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off.
Google has provided no indication that it has been able to isolate the issue nor has it given any kind of timeline on a resolution.