Products · Product
Google Home
Raised as a usability problem by 89 people on Hacker News over 11 years (2016–2026), in 84 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
- 1Devices cannot be moved to a new accountUnreviewed
- 2
Every issue, all time, most people first
Voice commands fail, forcing users to repeat themselvesUnreviewed
20162026- Voice commands now misfire, playing music or controlling all lights unexpectedly2025-02-26
- Simple voice commands like Stop or Pause often fail or misfire2024-01-11
- Voice command to turn lights on or off works only about 60% of the time2023-04-27
Devices cannot be moved to a new accountUnreviewed
20162026- Google Home has become virtually unusable since the Gemini changes2026-09-28
- Google smart home devices are described as incompetent and frustrating to use2026-06-14
- Google Home became so convoluted it is no longer usable; devices can't be moved to a new account2024-08-06
Separate app integration needed for every new smart deviceUnreviewed
20162026- Must remember which app configures which smart home devices2023-01-18
- Must add a separate app integration to Home for every new smart device2020-01-02
- Home app is hard to use and needs a simpler interface2019-01-12
Voice responses take too long and results are often poorUnreviewed
20162026- Voice assistant transcribes requests correctly only about 15% of the time2026-07-15
- Voice responses take too long, and results are often poor2023-06-04
- Asking the device by voice is slower than just using the phone app2019-01-07
Unreviewed issues were grouped by machine: Claude Haiku labelled each comment as a usability complaint, named what it's about and summed up the problem in a line, and a small model grouped similar problems. Nobody has checked them by hand. Expect mistakes.
The newest 50 complaints
- Google Home has become virtually unusable since the Gemini changes2026-09-28
- Voice assistant transcribes requests correctly only about 15% of the time2026-07-15
- Stopped responding to the user's voice commands for Hue lights after Gemini upgrade2026-06-16
- Google smart home devices are described as incompetent and frustrating to use2026-06-14
- Broadcast messages often fail with 'can't send messages yet', and the assistant has become slow.2026-03-24
- UI elements hide until hand approaches, breaking consistency and muscle memory2026-02-09
- Responses are slower and lower quality, and it refuses tasks it previously handled2026-01-28
- Interface is incredibly sluggish on capable hardware2026-01-17
- Voice commands now misfire, playing music or controlling all lights unexpectedly2025-02-26
- Tapping a Nest camera alert shows video not available yet2024-08-13
- Can't cast YouTube audio to the Home Mini without switching it to Bluetooth mode2024-08-06
- Google Home became so convoluted it is no longer usable; devices can't be moved to a new account2024-08-06
- Speakers keep disappearing from Google Home, and one can't be reconnected2024-05-15
- Simple voice commands like Stop or Pause often fail or misfire2024-01-11
- Voice assistant became less consistent and reliable after cloud processing changes2024-01-09
- Slow responses, devices answering each other, and multi-room playback claims nothing plays2023-11-17
- Replacement ADT system is clunkier, larger, and more cumbersome to manage than the original2023-11-12
- Setup is convoluted, requiring clicking through steps without understanding them2023-10-13
- Timers land on a random device, so cancelling means hunting for which speaker holds it2023-07-19
- Voice responses take too long, and results are often poor2023-06-04
- Display becomes laggy and unresponsive after running for a while2023-06-01
- Must sit through minutes of store listings when a light color command fails2023-05-15
- Apps are buggy and freeze-prone, and WiFi controls stopped working after account merge2023-05-09
- Can't easily scrub video feeds or control Nest Protect smoke detectors2023-05-09
- Doorbell only works properly when someone is right on the porch2023-05-09
- Smart bulbs and appliances need registration and frequently drop off and must reconnect2023-05-07
- Speakers randomly missing from cast list and both answering or erroring2023-05-07
- Home features treat a multi-person home clunkily, recognising multiple users only very late2023-05-07
- Music requests unpredictably play on Spotify, which the user never uses2023-04-27
- Voice command to turn lights on or off works only about 60% of the time2023-04-27
- Gives no explanation of why it fails to understand certain input2023-04-21
- Google Home app is slow and tedious; routines take seconds to load and save2023-03-24
- Camera feed is slow, cuts out, and takes forever to load when doorbell rings2023-01-18
- Must remember which app configures which smart home devices2023-01-18
- Pairing with a TV is terrible, unusable, with huge lag2023-01-18
- Couldn't find how to share control; family member sharing doesn't work on iPhone2022-12-15
- Voice commands fail repeatedly, so users must unplug devices or type instead2022-11-23
- Every command triggers an extra minute of unwanted spoken tips2022-11-20
- Same command phrased differently gets different or failed responses2022-10-25
- Nest devices randomly disconnect from wifi and won't reconnect2022-09-20
- Google Home never works properly and can't log in with a Workspace account2022-07-06
- App feels slow, janky and buggy with poor user experience2022-05-11
- UI runs at about three frames per second and responds sluggishly to touch and button input2022-02-25
- Voice is too loud and shrill with no separate volume control2022-01-13
- Timers set on one speaker don't show on the room's screens2022-01-07
- Mishears commands and reports devices unavailable while actions still succeed2021-11-24
- Unskippable tips after confirmations; interrupting cancels the whole command, and it can't be disabled2021-09-16
- Touch input lags badly and animations stutter at single-digit frame rates2021-05-26
- Voice assistant misunderstands simple commands like 'resume', requiring rephrasing2021-04-12
- Couldn't configure it to listen only on physical touch, and setup forced deep Google account integration2021-01-12