Here’s a scenario for you: You set an alarm on the Google Nest Mini in your bedroom, but before it goes off, you go downstairs. The alarm then goes off, and it refuses to stop chirping until you hoof it back upstairs and tell that specific Nest Mini to shut up.
That’s how Google’s smart speakers used to work. Thankfully, the search giant has quietly issued an update that seemingly addresses this problem, allowing users to turn alarms off when talking to Google Nest speakers in different rooms.
A tipster noted the change to Android Police, saying he told his office Nest Hub to “stop the timer in the kitchen,” which resulted in the alarm being silenced in the kitchen. A video demonstrating the feature showed the tipster’s Nest Hub replying with “I’m stopping any alarms and timers that are ringing on your smart home devices,” suggesting you don’t need to specify which room or alarm you want to turn off.
Android Police was able to confirm the new feature is supported by the original Google Home, the Google Home Max, and the Google Nest Hub Max across multiple rooms. So, the next time you have an alarm go off, try telling a Google Nest-branded smart speaker in a different room to turn it off.
Google hasn’t acknowledged the new feature yet, and it’s unclear how widespread its rollout is as of now. It could be rolling out server-side, in which case it won’t be available for everyone all at once. If you don’t have access to the feature at the moment, give it a few days and try again. Although, your mileage may vary on whether or not this will work between third-party Google Assistant speakers and Nest-branded devices.
Speaking of Nest devices, Google is allegedly gearing up to announce a new Nest Audio device at an event on September 30. So, even if you don’t own multiple Nest speakers right now, the upcoming device might be worth checking out.
