A curious and restrictive change to Google Home makes it so that newer Nest devices can now only be placed in one speaker group at a time.
Speaker groups allow for “synchronous music throughout the home” with “any combination of Google Nest or Home speakers and displays, Chromecast devices, and Google Pixel Tablets.”
However, “Speaker group device limitations” now exist. The below list of devices can only be put in one speaker group: “If you try to add one of these devices to a second speaker group in the app, you’ll get an error message.”
- Google Nest Mini (2nd gen)
- Google Nest Audio
- Chromecast with Google TV (4K)
- Chromecast with Google TV (HD)
- Google Nest Hub (2nd gen)
- Google Nest Hub Max
- Google Nest Wifi point
- Pixel Tablet (Hub Mode)
A fairly recent change backed up by user reports, the commonality is that these are Google’s newest devices and are still on sale today.
Common speaker groups that people create include every device in their home and per room groupings. Now, you have to choose one or the other. You can get around this editing groups every time before use, but that can quickly get annoying and tedious.
The last time speaker group functionality was impacted the Sonos lawsuit was to blame. In early 2022, you lost the ability to change the volume of a speaker group using your phone’s physical volume rocker.
Update: Google confirmed and shared the following today:
“In light of a recent legal decision, users will no longer be able to add new Nest devices to multiple groups. There are no changes to existing speaker groups.”
Google spokesperson
More on Google Home:
- Google raising the price of Nest Aware and Aware Plus
- Google Home app will finally support manual Nest Cam clips ‘later this year’
- Google’s Nest cameras are still held back by software, two years later
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