Reddit participants assert that Google’s smart home ecosystem is in decline, succumbing to “enshittification.” A thread from July 21 has drawn a multitude of responses from users voicing their dissatisfaction with the inconsistency of Google Home smart speakers and hubs in recent years.

“We had a decent period with Google Home, but it’s been declining for nearly two years,” remarked one user. “Now I only attempt the very fundamentals with mine, and I appreciate having lighting, outlets, and imprecise weather.”

Other users echoed similar grievances: misinterpreted voice commands, slow replies, failed multi-room speaker configurations, and a drop in basic functionality. Features that used to “just work” frequently do not anymore.

What is going wrong?

Aging hardware could be contributing to some complaints. In April, Google officially ceased update support for its first- and second-generation Nest thermostats to concentrate on newer iterations. Simultaneously, it also halted support for third-party smart displays. Another speculation points to Google’s growing dependence on AI within the smart home experience — especially how large language models like Gemini find it challenging to comprehend context.

In reply to Mashable’s questions, a Google spokesperson referenced an X post by Anish Kattukaran, the Chief Product Officer of Google Home and Nest, who addressed the complaints:

Kattukaran mentioned, “We are listening intently and are dedicated to rectifying this — ensuring we establish a long-term solution that offers enhanced reliability and capability. We have been diligently working on significant upgrades for a while and will have more updates to share in the fall.”

For users witnessing their devices quietly decline over time, their worry is palpable: what was once a dependable smart home system now seems to be experiencing a gradual, silent phase-out.

“The best illustration of this, for me, is asking ‘what’s this song?’ while I have music playing,” one user shared. “Initially, the assistant recognized I was listening to music and informed me of what was playing. After a backend alteration years ago, it simply began telling me that ‘This Song’ is a track by George Harrison.”

This transition underscores a known constraint in contemporary large language models like Gemini: limited context windows, which inhibit their capacity to manage ongoing, situational interactions.

“I assure you they’ll incorporate Gemini into all the current Google Home devices,” another user lamented. “And instead of encountering an error 25% of the time, you’ll get ‘I’m sorry but I’m just a large language model and cannot support that feature yet’ 60% of the time.”