Google Apologizes For Glitchy Assistant As Complaints Pile Up, Promises Major Improvements

Have your Google Home, Nest smart speakers, or hubs been impacted by strange glitches, where they struggle to comprehend commands? Well, it's not just you. Google has officially acknowledged an array of issues affecting these products, offered an apology, and has promised to fix them.

The acknowledgement and promised fixes were announced by Google Home and Nest's Chief Product Officer, Anish Kattukaran, via his official X (Twitter) account a few hours ago. Expressing concern over the issues, Anish stated, "I sincerely apologize for what you're experiencing and feeling". He then added that Google has heard user complaints and will take swift action to rectify the situation.

This acknowledgement came on the heels of an overwhelming number of complaints from users who have observed an obvious decline in reliability. And some of the complaints were even more severe than mere command misinterpretation. For example, some complained that when attempting to switch off a particular gadget a different one would actually switch off. With users feeling like they've lost control over their tech, Google was forced to acknowledge and apologise for the inconveniences.

While Google did not reveal any details about the root cause of these issues, several users have linked them to updates for a proposed AI-powered Gemini integration. Others have argued that they are a result of Google trying to retire some older hardware, in an attempt to compel users to upgrade. The latter argument appears plausible, since the devices most likely affected are the older Nest hubs (released before the 2nd generation Nest devices) and speakers. Nonetheless, this is just speculation for now.