Is your Google smart home getting slower and less reliable? You are not imagining it. Since Google began replacing Google Assistant with Gemini, many Google Home users say basic commands have turned into a chore — and How-To Geek argues it is time to consider Home Assistant instead.
Google Home speaker with Gemini (Credits: Google)
Why Gemini is making Google Home worse
Google Assistant was once the reason to buy a Google-branded smart speaker. But as Google retired Assistant in favour of Gemini, the platform lost functionality — and not just nice extras like interactive trivia games. Users report losing basic smart home control, with commands that used to work first time now failing or behaving unpredictably.
The problem, as How-To Geek puts it, comes down to the quirks inherent to large language models. Google Home will often claim it cannot play a song or switch off a device, then carry out the very same command when the user pushes back with a follow-up. For a system meant to run your home, that kind of flakiness is more than an annoyance.
The frustration is visible in the r/GoogleHome community, where users say the things Google Home used to do well have become a chore, with some reporting that around a third of their commands now produce an unexpected response. The issues that began with the Assistant-to-Gemini transition, the article argues, have snowballed and been left to fester.
Why Home Assistant is worth trying
Home Assistant is a free and open-source smart home operating system that runs on local hardware inside your home. That local-first design is its biggest advantage: an internet outage or a problem with a remote server does not bring your whole smart home to a halt, unlike cloud-dependent platforms from Google or Amazon.
It also puts you in control. Because it is open source, it works with a huge range of devices and brands rather than locking you into one company’s ecosystem, and it keeps your automations running locally rather than depending on a company’s shifting AI strategy.
None of this means switching is effortless — Home Assistant has a reputation for needing more setup than a plug-and-play speaker. But How-To Geek’s point is that the gap has narrowed: Home Assistant is more accessible than ever, while Google Home has moved in the opposite direction. If your lights, speakers and routines feel slower and buggier than they did a year ago, the article’s advice is blunt: stop waiting for Google to fix it and try the alternative.
Also Read: I Gave Home Assistant a Physical Color Wheel and Now Flip Through Albums Like It’s 2008 | I Tried Building a Location-Based Android Auto Dashboard With Tasker — Google Blocked Every Step
Source: How-To Geek — read the full story there.
