Summary
- Some Google Nest Home devices can’t set alarms for 12:30 a.m., changing it to 12:30 p.m.
- Bug has been reproduced, but not all devices are affected by this issue.
- Use your phone for alarms to avoid missing that early wake-up call.
Google Home devices have always been a little bit touch-and-go where certain commands were concerned, but users on Reddit think they’ve uncovered an odd new bug which makes a few of Google’s Nest Home devices unable to set alarms for a certain time of the day. Or, more specifically, night.
Google’s smart speakers and displays are apparently unable to set an alarm for 12:30 a.m., according to Redditor ReddBroccoli (via Android Authority). While it accepts the command, it sets the alarm for 12:30 p.m. instead, a full 12 hours after it would have been useful.
While the issue has been reproduced, it’s not universal
Could be linked to language settings
While this is certainly an irritating bug, it’s important to note that it doesn’t seem to be universal. ReddBroccoli’s issue is definitely confirmed, as they have posted a video showing the bug in all its glory. Plus, journalists from Android Authority were able to reproduce it too.
However, yours truly wasn’t able to duplicate the bug on a Google Home smart speaker, with the alarm happily setting for 12:30 a.m. and potentially ruining a perfectly good night’s sleep. So it seems that there’s more to this bug than a simple uiversal flaw.
It’s possible the bug is restricted to certain areas, as denoted by the language spoken by Google Assistant. If the bug specifically triggers on a US English assistant, then it’s possible it won’t also trigger on a British English assistant, which could explain why my Google Assistant doesn’t suffer from the bug.
If you want to try this out for yourself, then it’s simple to do so. Just ask your Google Home or Nest Home to set an alarm for 12:30 a.m., and then see what time it repeats back. As seen in the video above, even the time repeated back is incorrect. However, if you’re unsure, you can check your alarms by asking the same speaker if you have any alarms set. Or, you can head into your Google Home app, select Devices, the smart speaker in question, then the Settings cog, Audio, then Alarms and timers.
It’s likely Google will have a fix for this before long, but if for any reason you have a pressing need to get up in the middle of the night, it’s best to set an alarm using your phone for now. Just in case.
