Google Assistant home commands failing in Pixel Tablet Hub Mode

Over the past few days, Pixel Tablet owners have noticed an issue where smart home-related Google Assistant commands do not work in Hub Mode. 

Knowledge-based Google Assistant commands — like “what’s the weather” — work normally. However, trying to control your smart devices, like turning on/off lights, with your voice fails in Hub Mode.

Google Assistant transcribes and acknowledges the command, but then says “let me get some more information so I can help you with that.” You get a gray screen — as seen below — for several seconds before returning to a screen saver.

If you first unlock your Pixel Tablet, Assistant commands work just fine. The workaround defeats the purpose of hands-free assistance. Other Google devices also aren’t impacted, with Home Controls on the lockscreen also functioning.

Google Support on Reddit this evening said it is “aware of the issue where some Google Assistant voice commands aren’t working on Pixel Tablet. The engineering team is investigating and actively working on a fix. We’ll keep you posted as soon as there’s more to share. Thank you for the patience.”

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Thanks Darren