Google Home FAQ

AngelaRI

eusap wrote: »

The are back to €39 this morning in the airport

Still a really good deal that! Considering standard price is £49

https://store.google.com/gb/product/google_home_mini
£39 deal 6th-15th May - so if you are going through the airport and can nab one for €39 instead of £39 - good bargain!!

Gulliver

Ok, so just got home and can confirm the following works:
Play Today FM 80's
Play Today FM 90's

Not working:
Play Today FM
Play Today XM (says cannot find Today FM, no matter how clearly I enunciate. Maybe a non-bogger can try it? )

XM and FM will work if manually selected in the TuneIn app.

I think Today FM may have just shot themselves in the foot with the XM naming scheme.

jogdish

Gulliver wrote: »

Ok, so just got home and can confirm the following works:
Play Today FM 80's
Play Today FM 90's

Not working:
Play Today FM
Play Today XM (says cannot find Today FM, no matter how clearly I enunciate. Maybe a non-bogger can try it? )

XM and FM will work if manually selected in the TuneIn app.

I think Today FM may have just shot themselves in the foot with the XM naming scheme.

yay im not a bogger, Today XM just worked for me on 2nd try ( thought I said FM originally)

jogdish

Just watched:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRUvbiWLwFI

Sadly they did not mention if AI will ever get it to play the radio correctly

Although the Duplex calling looks amazing - provided it actually works, and if there is ever any support for Ireland.

adox

bk wrote: »

The point is on third party devices Google Assistant doesn't support all the same features that it does on first party devices.

This is also true for Alexa, Alexa on the Sonos doesn't support a variety of features that you can get on Amazon devices, e.g. calling, etc.

I do hope that Google and Amazon improve their support for third party devices as Sonos is pretty nice devices and the more devices support these the better.

Having said that, if audio quality is your priority, then there are much better sounding speakers then Sonos. A Google Home Mini + Chromecast Audio connected to high quality speakers is a pretty great setup, specially if you already have those speakers.

Or if you can accommodate it, a normal Chromecast so you get the best of both worlds from it.

jones

jogdish wrote: »

Just watched:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRUvbiWLwFI

Sadly they did not mention if AI will ever get it to play the radio correctly

Although the Duplex calling looks amazing - provided it actually works, and if there is ever any support for Ireland.

I came here just to comment on that...that's amazing how it reacts in real time. how freaky would that be being rang by an AI and having full conversation

jogdish

I guess no GH for Ireland anytime soon

https://www.digitaltrends.com/home/google-home-new-countries/

wexfordman2

jogdish wrote: »

I guess no GH for Ireland anytime soon

https://www.digitaltrends.com/home/google-home-new-countries/

Fexk sake!!

Maybe Amazon was the way to go! Kind of getting frustrated with Google a bit. I also have a problem with home as it doesn't work fully with Google g suite, (I have that instead of normal Gmail).

The frustrating thing about Google is their customer care, they absolutely refuse to offer any information about product support and features, almost 100% of the time your answer will be

"Sorry, we don't support that yet, but we are working to improve google home"

Then you ask them, but can you tell me if they are working on this specific feature, and they must will not answer you, but give the exact same type of non committal response.

You then get frustrated with them, and the sympathise and say they will pass your concerns on to the developers.

The most.I have gotten from them is that the support for a xertian feature is "under review"

bk

wexfordman2 wrote: »

Fexk sake!!

Maybe Amazon was the way to go! Kind of getting frustrated with Google a bit. I also have a problem with home as it doesn't work fully with Google g suite, (I have that instead of normal Gmail).

Oh, Alexa is even more frustrating!

wexfordman2 wrote: »

Then you ask them, but can you tell me if they are working on this specific feature, and they must will not answer you, but give the exact same type of non committal response.

As a developer myself, sounds like support are doing their job and much the same with all companies.

1st and 2nd level support in big companies rarely have any direct contact with the developers or know what the developers are actually doing/working on. Support just log a bug/ticket or add a customer note if a bug already exists. At best the support person might be able to see that the developer has marked the bug as being currently being worked on and maybe some notes, but not much more then that.

This makes sense, as the developers are likely working on a massive list of bugs, possibly 100's long, in addition to developing new features. A new bug comes in, they evaluate it, prioritise it and then get to it when they can.

In the bigger scheme of things, RTE is pretty much a niche radio station in a small country that they don't officially support. So you can bet this bug gets a low priority. Even if Ireland was officially supported, I don't think it would be much different.

I suspect they may realise that TuneIn is a pain and might be behind the scenes working on their own complete replacement for TuneIn. That would likely be a better solution, but obviously takes a lot more time.

jogdish

@bk posting stuff that makes sense and dashing our hopes

It was reported that Argos Ireland were selling mini's and Dixons too, I was under the impression Google frowned upon that since it's not supported here. Is that still the case?

wexfordman2

jogdish wrote: »

@bk posting stuff that makes sense and dashing our hopes

It was reported that Argos Ireland were selling mini's and Dixons too, I was under the impression Google frowned upon that since it's not supported here. Is that still the case?

Maplin sold.them.for a while as well bit were told to take them.off the shelves by google (according to a staff member I spoke to before they went bust).

wexfordman2

bk wrote: »

Oh, Alexa is even more frustrating!



As a developer myself, sounds like support are doing their job and much the same with all companies.

1st and 2nd level support in big companies rarely have any direct contact with the developers or know what the developers are actually doing/working on. Support just log a bug/ticket or add a customer note if a bug already exists. At best the support person might be able to see that the developer has marked the bug as being currently being worked on and maybe some notes, but not much more then that.

This makes sense, as the developers are likely working on a massive list of bugs, possibly 100's long, in addition to developing new features. A new bug comes in, they evaluate it, prioritise it and then get to it when they can.

In the bigger scheme of things, RTE is pretty much a niche radio station in a small country that they don't officially support. So you can bet this bug gets a low priority. Even if Ireland was officially supported, I don't think it would be much different.

I suspect they may realise that TuneIn is a pain and might be behind the scenes working on their own complete replacement for TuneIn. That would likely be a better solution, but obviously takes a lot more time.

Its not so much the radio think bk, that's a mild irritant no more, it's the lack of functionality with g suite is the problem. My calander doesn't work, email integration doesn't work because for some IDD reason google treat g suite customer differently even though it's the same platform. And no matter what you do, you can't get an answer from them if they ever plan to support it. Even a "no we are never going to support it" at this stage would be a welcome releif cos then I could start planning to migrate away from g suite.

BTW, bit of advice, think very carefully before signing up to g suite, its a lobster pot, once you get in, its impossible to get out.

Pugzilla

Why is it so hard to add support for Ireland?
Surely it's easier than Scandinavian countries considering we speak English.
Google also has significant investments in Ireland.

jones

Pugzilla wrote: »

Why is it so hard to add support for Ireland?
Surely it's easier than Scandinavian countries considering we speak English.
Google also has significant investments in Ireland.

Small market small priority - i do always wonder why these big companies dont use Ireland as a testing market you'd think we'd be a perfect size for testing sample sizes

RockDesk

jones wrote: »

Small market small priority - i do always wonder why these big companies dont use Ireland as a testing market you'd think we'd be a perfect size for testing sample sizes

And the fact that their Euro headquarters are in this country! You'd think we'd be one of the first to get whatever is on offer!

Pugzilla

Denmark and Norway aren't that much bigger population wise and they have unique languages.

jones

Yeah its odd they obviously know people in Ireland are using them so for all intents and purposes they lump us in with the UK but not directly sell them here. in fairness i have 3 home mini's and rarely come across any issues - although i dont listen to radio much and that seems to be the main bone of contention.

RockDesk

jones wrote: »

Yeah its odd they obviously know people in Ireland are using them so for all intents and purposes they lump us in with the UK but not directly sell them here. in fairness i have 3 home mini's and rarely come across any issues - although i dont listen to radio much and that seems to be the main bone of contention.

I hope you don't mind me asking and you don't have to answer - but what do you use your minis for? My 'Home' is still relatively new and I only really use it to play music. I feel like I'm not utilising it enough but I don't really know what else it does! I've even tried asking it questions for it to search the web but it comes back saying it can't do that at the moment!

AngelaRI

RockDesk wrote: »

I hope you don't mind me asking and you don't have to answer - but what do you use your minis for? My 'Home' is still relatively new and I only really use it to play music. I feel like I'm not utilising it enough but I don't really know what else it does! I've even tried asking it questions for it to search the web but it comes back saying it can't do that at the moment!

I have a couple of Minis around my house as well. I play a lot of music on Spotify and radio (I have grouped them all and love having my music follow me from room to room perfectly in sync!)
I also have a Nest thermostat that I can control by voice via Google Assistant on my phone of via my Google Home/Mini.
And I recently installed Philips Hue lights through my whole house - also voice controlled via minis (can be done via app but it's really handy to have the voice commands, that's what I use 99% of the time)
And: ask the Mini to play stuff on Netflix on my TV via my Chromecast - you can ask for a film/series, pause and resume all with voice commands.

There's a ton of other smart home devices that are compatible with Google Assistant and thus Google Home/Mini devices. That's what I love about them, the sheer range of possible integrations! And more coming on board all the time it seems.

jogdish

RockDesk wrote: »

I hope you don't mind me asking and you don't have to answer - but what do you use your minis for? My 'Home' is still relatively new and I only really use it to play music. I feel like I'm not utilising it enough but I don't really know what else it does! I've even tried asking it questions for it to search the web but it comes back saying it can't do that at the moment!

Kinda in the same boat, for me its
1) radio ( when working!)
2) currency/weight conversions
3) Simple( i stress simple) questions, what is temp, how long to drive, what is the captiol of
4)Timers
5)Voice activated plug for the christmas tree ( in december )
6)Me randomlly testing what it can actually do/not do
7) Is the NAME A SHOP open.

jones

RockDesk wrote:

I hope you don't mind me asking and you don't have to answer - but what do you use your minis for? My 'Home' is still relatively new and I only really use it to play music. I feel like I'm not utilising it enough but I don't really know what else it does! I've even tried asking it questions for it to search the web but it comes back saying it can't do that at the moment!

Mini's control my hue lights, nest thermostat, harmony remote and therefore the tv, chromecasts etc. I also use the minis to Bluetooth across to my Denon heos speakers for Spotify connect. The minis obviously have rubbish quality for music so I use my denons for high quality music.

I am pretty interconnected and my goal is to automate the whole house ha

wexfordman2

Don't know if they listen, but perhaps a petition, if we could het a few thousand SIG's on it ?

I already have one to get support added for g suite, so not going to start a second one,


https://www.change.org/p/google-inc-google-home-google-assistant-full-support-for-g-suite-customers
but if anyone wants to set one up, I'll def sign it.

We would need to get fairly high numbers though,

wexfordman2

RockDesk wrote: »

I hope you don't mind me asking and you don't have to answer - but what do you use your minis for? My 'Home' is still relatively new and I only really use it to play music. I feel like I'm not utilising it enough but I don't really know what else it does! I've even tried asking it questions for it to search the web but it comes back saying it can't do that at the moment!

Mine controls, lighting, heating and security, so used quite a lot. Also use it for music and radio, queries, weights, conversions, timers, alarms and reminders. Can't use it for calander stuff as google don't support googles g suite email service (but amazon does). If calander support was available for me, usage would be even higher.

jones

wexfordman2 wrote:

Mine controls, lighting, heating and security, so used quite a lot. Also use it for music and radio, queries, weights, conversions, timers, alarms and reminders. Can't use it for calander stuff as google don't support googles g suite email service (but amazon does). If calander support was available for me, usage would be even higher.

Can you not just use Google calendar?

RockDesk

Thank you for the replies!

I really want to get Nest installed. I was checking a few months ago and for some reason it looked like it wouldn't be compatible with the hating system I have - can't even remember why that was now. I checked just now and it wasn't saying anything about it not being compatible so that'll be one more thing for my home to deal with! I just got a wifi plug yesterday to see how I got on with controlling lights - it was way cheaper than getting the philips bulbs because the hub makes it expensive (when you don't know if you'll get on with it), but I thought was really good.

I must be doing something wrong with Google searches or maybe she doesn't like what I'm asking!

Unfortunately I can't control my security through it (I don't think), but I have an app for that already so it's not too much of a loss.

wexfordman2

jones wrote: »

Can you not just use Google calendar?

G suite is effectively google calander, just using a personal domain instead if gmail.com

So, I have a google account which is say wexfordman@peedoff.com that I use for everything, email, calander, work and personal, and it has ten years worth of data on it, including google photos etc, and my whole family uses it.

So my homes are setup with this email address, if I create a gmail address, then its separate, and doesn't link in all the other data.

Fecking frustrating

wexfordman2

RockDesk wrote: »

Thank you for the replies!

I really want to get Nest installed. I was checking a few months ago and for some reason it looked like it wouldn't be compatible with the hating system I have - can't even remember why that was now. I checked just now and it wasn't saying anything about it not being compatible so that'll be one more thing for my home to deal with! I just got a wifi plug yesterday to see how I got on with controlling lights - it was way cheaper than getting the philips bulbs because the hub makes it expensive (when you don't know if you'll get on with it), but I thought was really good.

I must be doing something wrong with Google searches or maybe she doesn't like what I'm asking!

Unfortunately I can't control my security through it (I don't think), but I have an app for that already so it's not too much of a loss.

I go to bed at night, and say goodnight google, and she turns all lights off, sets the alarm system, and changes the way the lights come on to be motion detected in some areas only.

What kind of heating do you have ?

RockDesk

Just an oil boiler.

I think I may have discounted myself accidentally because it says it doesn't support a back boiler. I do have a back boiler but it's not used/broken. I have no clue why I ignored the confirmation of oil boiler support when I was on the website.

I now feel hard done-by because I have to open my alarm system app to set the alarm!

I didn't know you could set it up saying Goodnight google actually did things! I shouldn't be let have these things when I let them go to waste!

wexfordman2

RockDesk wrote: »

Just an oil boiler.

I think I may have discounted myself accidentally because it says it doesn't support a back boiler. I do have a back boiler but it's not used/broken. I have no clue why I ignored the confirmation of oil boiler support when I was on the website.

I now feel hard done-by because I have to open my alarm system app to set the alarm!

I didn't know you could set it up saying Goodnight google actually did things! I shouldn't be let have these things when I let them go to waste!

Same as you, we have a back boiler but don't use it anymore, although I do want to figure out how to bring it back into the syatem,.

Google will do routines for you, you get the most out of google when you have devices to get ot to control. Chromecasta are great as well, have one in every telly. So for example, I can tell google to play "it's always sunny in Philadelphia" and it will automatically play it on the telly for me. I can get it to pause, rewind etc.

Get yourself a Chromecast I'd you don't have one :-)

RockDesk

I have a Chromecast, obviously not utilising it well! I use to use it more to connect Netflix etc. But the TV has Netflix integrated so I really only use Chromecast if I'm casting from the laptop for whatever reason.

I suppose it makes sense that the biggest draw for google is the control of devices. I'll just need to get more so!