I’m in a dysfunctional relationship with my Google Nest Hub. There, I said it. The little, white lump of plastic and frustration sits beneath my TV in the living room. For a year or so, now, I’ve sworn that it’s begun mishearing me more and more.

It seems I’m not the only person who’s thought so, and Google’s Anish Kattukaran, chief product officer of Google Home & Nest, validated our frustrations in a pair of posts on X on July 23.

Hey everyone, I want to acknowledge the recent feedback about Google Assistant reliability on our home devices. I sincerely apologize for what you're experiencing and feeling!

— Anish Kattukaran (@AnishKattukaran) July 23, 2025

so i wasn’t going crazy

Part of me was wondering if I’d become a mumbler. Or that my slight New York accent on certain words was coming out more frequently and without me noticing, a frightening thought as I generally try to stuff it back down deep in my throat like a corn dog lunch after a rollercoaster ride.

“We hear you loud and clear and are committed to getting this right,” said Kattukaran, in a follow-up post to his original (shown above), “and making sure we have a long term solution that provides better reliability and capability. We have been actively working on major improvements for sometime and will have more to share in the fall.”

The Google Nest Hub is literally the first thing I say good morning to and the last thing I say goodnight to each day, which is pretty goddamn sad now that I’ve actually written this sentence out.

It’s not because I find companionship with the thing or any other equally odd, unsettling reason. It’s because saying “Hey Google, good morning” runs a programmed routine of turning on my smart bulbs and reading me the day’s weather forecast, and saying “Hey Google, goodnight” turns off my lights, arms my SimpliSafe home security system, and gives me tomorrow’s forecast.

Even though more often this past year, it’s begun playing some inane song on YouTube. Or it’s set a timer out of the blue. Or it’s turned on my TV. My Google Nest was just useful enough to keep using, but frustrating enough to take a minute off my life every day.

Today, for instance, I asked it about the weather. Nice, helpful. Then in the hallway, I sighed. Next thing I heard from the living room was, “Your alarm is set for 9:30 AM.” And you know what? I’ve had this thing for five years in the same spot of the same living room, and I could’ve sworn it was getting worse with time.

“More to share in the fall,” as Kattukaran said, can’t come soon enough.