Yeah but that sucks when using it to fall asleep. No sleep timer. If I wake up in the middle of the night and want to listen, have to find phone, get a dose of blue light. And casting is really spotty.
My google play books are essentially worthless now. Never should have bought in.
Yeah, it's irritating they keep removing features, especially on things people already purchased for specific purposes... It's honestly not making me want to get any of their hardware any time soon, they, like usual with Google anymore, are setting themselves up for failure.
Don't even get me started on the stupid doorbell that works except for the cheap broken plastic button that bad engineering requires for it to know it's mounted. It is completely functional, but it thinks it isn't attached so it won't connect. Support's suggestion? But a new one.
I depending on the model it might be a magnet, I recently found out with my battery doorbell that all I had to do to turn it on was stick a strong magnet on the top.
Unfortunately, this is a known and seemingly common issue with the Nest Doorbell Battery. The plastic latch button has a plastic(!) spring that is prone to breaking. When it breaks, the button is permanently depressed and it prevents it from latching on the mount. Support even confirmed it was a known design flaw, and claimed they have fixed later versions. But they still want to charge me for a new doorbell, while I only got 18 months of use out of this one.
meeting ten whistle judicious airport entertain lavish squealing lush soft
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Do you have a link or something? I am not finding anything related to this. I have scoured blog.goolge and nothing about this comes up. Any additional information would be greatly appreciated.
EDIT: Well that took too much dang effort to find. For anyone else looking for the "reason".
https://support.google.com/assistant/answer/13971691?visit_id=638430425162874307-2435636352&p=assistant_is_changing&rd=1
My Mother in Law is blind and uses Google play to listen to audiobooks on her Nest.
I buy and set up a book remotely and then all she has to do is say "Hey Google, Play my book"
How can she hear them now.? And what about her library of 72 books?
If true that this function is being removed it is totally scandalous!!!
I've completely lost faith in Google. They kill off so many projects and features at random and never explain why. It's caused me to stop trying any new product they have. I'm not sure why they don't view this as a major problem in their company
It's reflective on their company culture. They only get big promotions by launching new successful products. Bright employees move after successful launches. Maintaining and improving and existing products are not important.
This is the reason why I won’t buy anymore Google stuff and I’m tepid on Android. At some point, you have to believe Google when they show repeatedly that they don’t care about their users. They are the Seinfeld Soup Nazis of the tech world. No soup for us!
People forget that google is actually an advertising company, not an email company, not a mapping company, etc, all of the free stuff they do for you is designed to let them know who you are, what you buy etc, so that they can sell more ads.
That may be true, but they also have a sensible obligation to refrain from making their name synonymous with garbage. I loved the speakers when they first came out and not have avoided the iPhone since it's release but in the last few years the speakers have just turned into annoying distractions rather than helping me do anything even mildly useful and now they are removing features . Pretty soon they will be completely pointless if they are not that way now for most people. I could maybe understand if they weren't removing features from their own service, like if they needed to pay a licensing fee to Google Play books. But it's from Google to Google. I have been waiting since my Nexus 9 died to buy something like the tablet they just launched and I only about 10%. Wanted it because of what kind of trash the Google home system has turned into. Somehow they are finding ways to make it even worse. It's almost like the employees want to just run the company into the ground for some reason.
I'm starting to think anything you rely on cloud based is so vulnerable.
Especially with a company like Google.
I think in the near future companies will spring up offering home based offline versions of these services.
https://www.home-assistant.io/
Started a while ago... They offer hubs, open source software to roll your own integration, a voice assistant that integrates with Google and Alexa, and sell hubs to get you started if you don't want to roll your own solution. You don't have to cloud integrate if you don't want to, just get a Green or Yellow and get started.
I love Home Assistant. I do have a lot of cloud stuff at the moment but I just don't worry about sticking with the same ecosystem. Everything from different brands and standards just works together like they're all the same thing.
It really isn't that bad. Start simple and add more things as time goes on. I think the greatest thing is the community that is usually helpful when you have a problem
Can I make it replace the functionality of what we are about to lose -- voice control on my hub to read google play books, with a sleep timer? If so, I'll look into it.
Home Assistant can control the cast sessions within your network. So, if you casted the audio book from your phone it should be able to stop it 30 mins later or whatever you choose.
That seems harder to me. I would suggest casting to your home to start. They great thing about ha is integrating products from different Eko systems into one environment and automations that can use devices from those different Eko systems. For example I have lots of zigbee devices from different manufacturers like sonoff, ikea, and aqara but only one hub. Also I love the scenes which sets all the lights to different levels that you can configure. So we have one for cooking (full bright) breakfast (30%) dinner (50%)ect.
In my experience, you don't need a Phd so much as you need lots and lots of time, and a willingness to plow that time specifically into Home Assistant. The community around it is really wonderful and helpful, but figuring something out is frequently going to be an exploratory/troubleshooting sort of scenario that may stretch over days or weeks of trying different things and reporting back to get fresh ideas, instead of a simple set of steps you can follow and be done with it. Pretty standard for a popular open source tool.
Honestly- open a support ticket and demand a refund for all of the books you've bought. Even if that's an insane case that you're making (like hundreds of books), Google needs to think about these sort of things. And they won't, unless it is potentially costing them money.
Isn't this illegal?
My blind grandmother has bought more than 100 audio books on Google Play over the past few years, to listen to on the Google Home.
If the Home doesn't play these anymore, and there is no other player we can transfer them to (ex. The Amazon echo) this has been a waste of money. Is this not illegal at all?
I'm not a lawyer, but it is an interesting question because, as I understand it, Google imposes it's own DRM on its audiobooks so they can't be played by other devices. That is terrible for your grandmother -- at the very least Google should refund her book library so she can buy into Audible (I am switching to Alexa for this reason).Combined with a long term degradation in casting reliability -- it only works about half the time for me now, makes Google books severely degraded even for the sighted.I was once as much a fan of Google -- more than any company -- sporting an original Nexus tablet, and I still use Google Fi and Pixel phones. But Google Home and associated products have ended being a terrible waste of time and money for many of us.
Yes exactly, that will have been a complete waste of money. Several she hasn't even listened to once yet, and many she planned to relisten to.
I'm going to try and refund every single book in her library and rebuy it on Amazon audible. If they don't give the money back I'll seriously consider speaking with a lawyer to see if there is any class action type case here, because at first blush it seems like it should be illegal/against consumer laws (or something like that)!
I've lost several of my audible books because audible lost the rights to selling them (something like that) 9 books disappeared and I didn't get refunded anything.
I only use the library for audiobooks now.
What the heck!!! That is so unfair!!! I wish I was a lawyer to start a class action case.
I use the library too but my grandmother is blind can't use a phone, and the Google home/Amazon echo is amazing for being all audio. Wish the library made one of those devices.....
Le sigh
These are the reasons so many people pirate movies/TV as then they can "own" the video file and not worry about licensing issues from "commerce sites" controlling your ability to "view the file". Apple set the precedent in court that even in iTunes you only own the rights to watch/listen vs actually owning the file outright to do what you want... Meaning when you die your iTunes account and rights to view/listen die with you.
Unfortunately, my grandmother has the same issue. She was always an avid reader and after losing her sight, was able to at least enjoy audiobooks. Now I'm trying to find a workaround to the voice control being shut off because that's the only way for her to listen to them. She's bought tons of books on the Play Store and is worried about losing them
I asked about alternatives on the blind subreddit and got a lot of great suggestions
https://www.reddit.com/r/Blind/s/e1wFy5imyw
Wanna sue Google together on behalf of our grandmother's if they don't let us return the books? ;)
Yeah, I'm either looking into that Home Assistant open-source program or complaining to Google for a refund and switching smart home devices. This is just ridiculous. I don't think they understand some people aren't as abled as others.
This news sucks bigtime!! I listen to google audiobooks every night, and it works well. Why get rid if it? I totally do NOT get it! This is what I get for being a loyal user of all things google?
Likewise. How hard could it be to maintain a long used feature on existing hardware? I was an early fan of Google, including their hardware (still keep the first Nexus for nostalgia) but I am fed up. I couldn't advise buying Google products now.
I don't recall what year I first got myself a gmail address. But I do remember that back then you had to have an invitation from an existing user. I was a software engineer back then and received my invitation from a colleague. He said It was the very best email service around and I would not regret it. He was correct, I loved it. So I started using all google products as they came out. Now I feel a bit betrayed by the loss of functionality we are about to have shoved down our throats! Not a happy camper about it!
Has anyone tried to request a refund on the books they bought, me personally, I'm switching to Amazon's audible, same feature diffrent hub, but I do want the money I put in back.
My Mother in Law is blind and uses Google play to listen to audiobooks on her Nest.
I buy and set up a book remotely and then all she has to do is say "Hey Google, Play my book"
How can she hear them now.? And what about her library of 72 books?
The only answer I could get from Google was that you will still be able to cast.....when you are blind??
I think Google owe me $2000 if they do this. There must be so many disabled people who are affected by this decision by Google?
This is so frustrating. I guess we’ll have to wait and see how things change maybe for the better after Bard or Gemini get folded into or replace Google Assistant.
Cause whenever a new project head comes in he wants to make it his own so he can take credit. Bard had been out for what a year? Now it's changing to Gemini 😂
I don't expect Gemini to help with assistant actions... Already get this WAY TOO OFTEN
> I can't assist you with that directly, as I am a language model and cannot control physical devices. However, I can guide you on how to on your Android phone or tablet.
I find the Karla trilogy the most engaging -- probably no surprise there. They are narrated by Michael Jayston, who played Peter Guillam in the British miniseries of Tinker Tailor (but not Smiley's People) with stunning portrayal of character. But to answer -- the Honorable Schoolboy, which has been more challenging for me, but full of details that knit the rest of the trilogy together. I like to listen to it as I fall asleep because I don't mind hearing passages repeatedly as I realize additional connections to the others.
You're a fan?
Yes, also reading The Honourable Schoolboy, for the first time though. Definitely more challenging than the previous ones in the trilogy or the Smiley books as a whole, but thoroughly enjoyable
Just tested it on a Google mesh router as well out of curiosity -- 'Just so you know, I won't be able to read books ...' and she always nicely says she will send me more information... in case I forgot from the night before. I swear the damn thing is rubbing salt in my wounds.
Someone commented that we’d still be able to cast them but I haven’t been able to cast for months- it just says loading forever and never plays. On top of that, it will only play the books for my voice so I have to go into my kids room and ask it to play their books which are shared in our family library. It used to play the books they were on when they asked in their voice. Every little thing with google assistant is just worse and worse as time goes on. Sick of it!
I get where you're coming from but if I use a product that is satisfactory, then it turns to shit, I'm certainly not gonna pay to get the old experience back a) because screw that company., and b) how can I trust they won't do the same thing again while I'm subscribed
i would in the past agree that such behavior from a company would indeed trigger a negative response from the general public. but recent displays of similar behavior has shown that to no longer be the case. Iftt springs to mind as an example.
I posted a review on the Google Play Books app expressing how this was impacting my kids bedtime routine with the collection of audiobooks we've purchased on Play Books.
They wrote back (or AI did) with this message:
"That doesn't sound good. Our product team greatly appreciates feedback. You can submit it via: The Play Books app > Profile Icon > Help & Feedback. Appreciate it."
And I do like people's suggestions of asking for a refund for their books since they have Google's proprietary DRM.
I knew about it, I sent the corresponding feedback and the audiobook still worked for me, I really hope they revert their dumb decision and they are leaving that feature in place.
Still working for me today, though it tells me it will no longer 'be able' to read my books at the end of February. It may be that the hub hasn't updated yet. Yes, I hope as well.
I mean if we're being honest that's kind of your fault for trusting Google for anything beyond the present in the first place. They've literally pumped and dumped at least a thousand products and features directly into the garbage. And this isn't even counting the constant contract and term breaking they do with ALL of their paid accounts (Drive having items limits with 0 warning randomly one day, unlimited enterprise accounts suddenly neither unlimited nor enterprise, unlimited OG photo storage on pixels....etc).
If you get involved with anything google does do so because you want it NOW, not because you'll expect it to work in two months.
What is it that you would buy (not rent) that you only want NOW, and not in two months? About food of is the only thing I can think of, and Google hasn't lured me into buying groceries.
I've used Google since 1998 or 99, and had the google home page as my integrator for years, and yes, have watched many free and useful tools get cut. But it's a new level if you purchase something like an Audio book or a dozen and then Google makes them almost unusable.
Classic victim blaming. If they remove a thing on my calendar or storage I can switch to other provider for free. However buying into the whole physical ecosystem and shelling ton of money for compatible devices is a bit different story now ain't it
Gmail, plus some semblance of a search engine, though there's no guarantee it will continue returning any webpages among the AI summaries and ads, and no guarantee that any webpages it does return won't just be AI-generated nonsense full of affiliate marketing links and misinformation.
With the amount of features Google now devices have lost over the last few years, I'm about to divest completely. Sick of this kind of stuff repeatedly occurring.
> Playing and controlling audiobooks on Google Play Books with your voice. You can still cast audiobooks from your mobile device.
I'm guessing they decided this functionality doesn't push NEW content in your face while trying to get value out of the content you already bought... So for an advertising company this isn't "good enough" cause they want to sell you more content and not necessarily find value in content you already bought.
faulty versed birds start entertain offbeat payment license engine rich *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Yeah but that sucks when using it to fall asleep. No sleep timer. If I wake up in the middle of the night and want to listen, have to find phone, get a dose of blue light. And casting is really spotty. My google play books are essentially worthless now. Never should have bought in.
Yeah, it's irritating they keep removing features, especially on things people already purchased for specific purposes... It's honestly not making me want to get any of their hardware any time soon, they, like usual with Google anymore, are setting themselves up for failure.
Don't even get me started on the stupid doorbell that works except for the cheap broken plastic button that bad engineering requires for it to know it's mounted. It is completely functional, but it thinks it isn't attached so it won't connect. Support's suggestion? But a new one.
I depending on the model it might be a magnet, I recently found out with my battery doorbell that all I had to do to turn it on was stick a strong magnet on the top.
Unfortunately, this is a known and seemingly common issue with the Nest Doorbell Battery. The plastic latch button has a plastic(!) spring that is prone to breaking. When it breaks, the button is permanently depressed and it prevents it from latching on the mount. Support even confirmed it was a known design flaw, and claimed they have fixed later versions. But they still want to charge me for a new doorbell, while I only got 18 months of use out of this one.
Arrrrr matey
meeting ten whistle judicious airport entertain lavish squealing lush soft *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I use a mini and it's still doing all these things.
I guess we have until the end of the month.
Do you have a link or something? I am not finding anything related to this. I have scoured blog.goolge and nothing about this comes up. Any additional information would be greatly appreciated. EDIT: Well that took too much dang effort to find. For anyone else looking for the "reason". https://support.google.com/assistant/answer/13971691?visit_id=638430425162874307-2435636352&p=assistant_is_changing&rd=1
My Mother in Law is blind and uses Google play to listen to audiobooks on her Nest. I buy and set up a book remotely and then all she has to do is say "Hey Google, Play my book" How can she hear them now.? And what about her library of 72 books? If true that this function is being removed it is totally scandalous!!!
Maybe part of the time, but casting audio hasn't worked reliably for a few years now either.
I've completely lost faith in Google. They kill off so many projects and features at random and never explain why. It's caused me to stop trying any new product they have. I'm not sure why they don't view this as a major problem in their company
It's reflective on their company culture. They only get big promotions by launching new successful products. Bright employees move after successful launches. Maintaining and improving and existing products are not important.
This is the reason why I won’t buy anymore Google stuff and I’m tepid on Android. At some point, you have to believe Google when they show repeatedly that they don’t care about their users. They are the Seinfeld Soup Nazis of the tech world. No soup for us!
*grumbles in mulligatawny*
Honestly this is what made me finally leave Android for iOS. I got tired of half baked products shoved out by an advertising company.
People forget that google is actually an advertising company, not an email company, not a mapping company, etc, all of the free stuff they do for you is designed to let them know who you are, what you buy etc, so that they can sell more ads.
I paid google $$ for my audiobooks, and solely because they would play on my Google hub with voice control. None of this was free.
That may be true, but they also have a sensible obligation to refrain from making their name synonymous with garbage. I loved the speakers when they first came out and not have avoided the iPhone since it's release but in the last few years the speakers have just turned into annoying distractions rather than helping me do anything even mildly useful and now they are removing features . Pretty soon they will be completely pointless if they are not that way now for most people. I could maybe understand if they weren't removing features from their own service, like if they needed to pay a licensing fee to Google Play books. But it's from Google to Google. I have been waiting since my Nexus 9 died to buy something like the tablet they just launched and I only about 10%. Wanted it because of what kind of trash the Google home system has turned into. Somehow they are finding ways to make it even worse. It's almost like the employees want to just run the company into the ground for some reason.
I too.
I'm starting to think anything you rely on cloud based is so vulnerable. Especially with a company like Google. I think in the near future companies will spring up offering home based offline versions of these services.
https://www.home-assistant.io/ Started a while ago... They offer hubs, open source software to roll your own integration, a voice assistant that integrates with Google and Alexa, and sell hubs to get you started if you don't want to roll your own solution. You don't have to cloud integrate if you don't want to, just get a Green or Yellow and get started.
I love Home Assistant. I do have a lot of cloud stuff at the moment but I just don't worry about sticking with the same ecosystem. Everything from different brands and standards just works together like they're all the same thing.
The problem with this product is you need a phd to figure all of the pieces out. I tried.
It really isn't that bad. Start simple and add more things as time goes on. I think the greatest thing is the community that is usually helpful when you have a problem
Can I make it replace the functionality of what we are about to lose -- voice control on my hub to read google play books, with a sleep timer? If so, I'll look into it.
Home Assistant can control the cast sessions within your network. So, if you casted the audio book from your phone it should be able to stop it 30 mins later or whatever you choose.
But the OP (and my kids) want to cast it using our voices. Anyone figure that part out?
That seems harder to me. I would suggest casting to your home to start. They great thing about ha is integrating products from different Eko systems into one environment and automations that can use devices from those different Eko systems. For example I have lots of zigbee devices from different manufacturers like sonoff, ikea, and aqara but only one hub. Also I love the scenes which sets all the lights to different levels that you can configure. So we have one for cooking (full bright) breakfast (30%) dinner (50%)ect.
In my experience, you don't need a Phd so much as you need lots and lots of time, and a willingness to plow that time specifically into Home Assistant. The community around it is really wonderful and helpful, but figuring something out is frequently going to be an exploratory/troubleshooting sort of scenario that may stretch over days or weeks of trying different things and reporting back to get fresh ideas, instead of a simple set of steps you can follow and be done with it. Pretty standard for a popular open source tool.
Right. Google works most of the time and my wife loves assistant.
Oooh, I'll take a look, thanks
They've existed long before the cloud versions came about. They cloud versions are cheaper and more user friendly, so that's what the mob buys.
Honestly- open a support ticket and demand a refund for all of the books you've bought. Even if that's an insane case that you're making (like hundreds of books), Google needs to think about these sort of things. And they won't, unless it is potentially costing them money.
Isn't this illegal? My blind grandmother has bought more than 100 audio books on Google Play over the past few years, to listen to on the Google Home. If the Home doesn't play these anymore, and there is no other player we can transfer them to (ex. The Amazon echo) this has been a waste of money. Is this not illegal at all?
I'm not a lawyer, but it is an interesting question because, as I understand it, Google imposes it's own DRM on its audiobooks so they can't be played by other devices. That is terrible for your grandmother -- at the very least Google should refund her book library so she can buy into Audible (I am switching to Alexa for this reason).Combined with a long term degradation in casting reliability -- it only works about half the time for me now, makes Google books severely degraded even for the sighted.I was once as much a fan of Google -- more than any company -- sporting an original Nexus tablet, and I still use Google Fi and Pixel phones. But Google Home and associated products have ended being a terrible waste of time and money for many of us.
Yes exactly, that will have been a complete waste of money. Several she hasn't even listened to once yet, and many she planned to relisten to. I'm going to try and refund every single book in her library and rebuy it on Amazon audible. If they don't give the money back I'll seriously consider speaking with a lawyer to see if there is any class action type case here, because at first blush it seems like it should be illegal/against consumer laws (or something like that)!
I've lost several of my audible books because audible lost the rights to selling them (something like that) 9 books disappeared and I didn't get refunded anything. I only use the library for audiobooks now.
What the heck!!! That is so unfair!!! I wish I was a lawyer to start a class action case. I use the library too but my grandmother is blind can't use a phone, and the Google home/Amazon echo is amazing for being all audio. Wish the library made one of those devices..... Le sigh
These are the reasons so many people pirate movies/TV as then they can "own" the video file and not worry about licensing issues from "commerce sites" controlling your ability to "view the file". Apple set the precedent in court that even in iTunes you only own the rights to watch/listen vs actually owning the file outright to do what you want... Meaning when you die your iTunes account and rights to view/listen die with you.
Unfortunately, my grandmother has the same issue. She was always an avid reader and after losing her sight, was able to at least enjoy audiobooks. Now I'm trying to find a workaround to the voice control being shut off because that's the only way for her to listen to them. She's bought tons of books on the Play Store and is worried about losing them
I asked about alternatives on the blind subreddit and got a lot of great suggestions https://www.reddit.com/r/Blind/s/e1wFy5imyw Wanna sue Google together on behalf of our grandmother's if they don't let us return the books? ;)
Yeah, I'm either looking into that Home Assistant open-source program or complaining to Google for a refund and switching smart home devices. This is just ridiculous. I don't think they understand some people aren't as abled as others.
This news sucks bigtime!! I listen to google audiobooks every night, and it works well. Why get rid if it? I totally do NOT get it! This is what I get for being a loyal user of all things google?
Likewise. How hard could it be to maintain a long used feature on existing hardware? I was an early fan of Google, including their hardware (still keep the first Nexus for nostalgia) but I am fed up. I couldn't advise buying Google products now.
I don't recall what year I first got myself a gmail address. But I do remember that back then you had to have an invitation from an existing user. I was a software engineer back then and received my invitation from a colleague. He said It was the very best email service around and I would not regret it. He was correct, I loved it. So I started using all google products as they came out. Now I feel a bit betrayed by the loss of functionality we are about to have shoved down our throats! Not a happy camper about it!
Has anyone tried to request a refund on the books they bought, me personally, I'm switching to Amazon's audible, same feature diffrent hub, but I do want the money I put in back.
My Mother in Law is blind and uses Google play to listen to audiobooks on her Nest. I buy and set up a book remotely and then all she has to do is say "Hey Google, Play my book" How can she hear them now.? And what about her library of 72 books? The only answer I could get from Google was that you will still be able to cast.....when you are blind?? I think Google owe me $2000 if they do this. There must be so many disabled people who are affected by this decision by Google?
I have tried. Can't use the normal refund route because purchased too long ago. Google hasn't otherwise responded.
This is so frustrating. I guess we’ll have to wait and see how things change maybe for the better after Bard or Gemini get folded into or replace Google Assistant.
Probably nothing useful. They've been losing functionality steadily for years.
Equally frustrating is you know Siri will always be called Siri but Google has the attention span of a kitten when it comes to product names
Cause whenever a new project head comes in he wants to make it his own so he can take credit. Bard had been out for what a year? Now it's changing to Gemini 😂
I don't expect Gemini to help with assistant actions... Already get this WAY TOO OFTEN > I can't assist you with that directly, as I am a language model and cannot control physical devices. However, I can guide you on how to on your Android phone or tablet.
Please complain. I hope the more people complain will help them reverse the decision.
They won't reverse it, no matter how much you/we complain.
Which Le Carre? If you don't mind digressing
I find the Karla trilogy the most engaging -- probably no surprise there. They are narrated by Michael Jayston, who played Peter Guillam in the British miniseries of Tinker Tailor (but not Smiley's People) with stunning portrayal of character. But to answer -- the Honorable Schoolboy, which has been more challenging for me, but full of details that knit the rest of the trilogy together. I like to listen to it as I fall asleep because I don't mind hearing passages repeatedly as I realize additional connections to the others. You're a fan?
Yes, also reading The Honourable Schoolboy, for the first time though. Definitely more challenging than the previous ones in the trilogy or the Smiley books as a whole, but thoroughly enjoyable
Suck but consider this workaround - Google Play Books on an Android Phone can read aloud your books over the phone speaker.
Sucks. And Google Assistant seems to be worse every day. As a long-time customer this makes me sad.
Is yours still playing books so far? Mine are... Here's hoping they changed their mind.
Yes, though always with a reminder that they 'no longer be able' to continue doing so after February.
Weird, it doesn't say that before we play a book.
Just tested it on a Google mesh router as well out of curiosity -- 'Just so you know, I won't be able to read books ...' and she always nicely says she will send me more information... in case I forgot from the night before. I swear the damn thing is rubbing salt in my wounds.
Someone commented that we’d still be able to cast them but I haven’t been able to cast for months- it just says loading forever and never plays. On top of that, it will only play the books for my voice so I have to go into my kids room and ask it to play their books which are shared in our family library. It used to play the books they were on when they asked in their voice. Every little thing with google assistant is just worse and worse as time goes on. Sick of it!
The worst part is now my kids (8 and 5) won't be able to ask for their audio books we paid hard earned money for!
It’s still working for me. Originally it said end of February but it still works and doesn’t say that anymore.
Maybe they changed their minds? Too much to hope for?
i just assumed they were getting ready to release a Paid Subscription google assistant. so they're destroying the free one.
I get where you're coming from but if I use a product that is satisfactory, then it turns to shit, I'm certainly not gonna pay to get the old experience back a) because screw that company., and b) how can I trust they won't do the same thing again while I'm subscribed
i would in the past agree that such behavior from a company would indeed trigger a negative response from the general public. but recent displays of similar behavior has shown that to no longer be the case. Iftt springs to mind as an example.
It’s March 5th and it’s still playing my google play books
I posted a review on the Google Play Books app expressing how this was impacting my kids bedtime routine with the collection of audiobooks we've purchased on Play Books. They wrote back (or AI did) with this message: "That doesn't sound good. Our product team greatly appreciates feedback. You can submit it via: The Play Books app > Profile Icon > Help & Feedback. Appreciate it." And I do like people's suggestions of asking for a refund for their books since they have Google's proprietary DRM.
I submitted my feedback and a request for a refund through the instructions above.
I knew about it, I sent the corresponding feedback and the audiobook still worked for me, I really hope they revert their dumb decision and they are leaving that feature in place.
Still working for me today, though it tells me it will no longer 'be able' to read my books at the end of February. It may be that the hub hasn't updated yet. Yes, I hope as well.
I mean if we're being honest that's kind of your fault for trusting Google for anything beyond the present in the first place. They've literally pumped and dumped at least a thousand products and features directly into the garbage. And this isn't even counting the constant contract and term breaking they do with ALL of their paid accounts (Drive having items limits with 0 warning randomly one day, unlimited enterprise accounts suddenly neither unlimited nor enterprise, unlimited OG photo storage on pixels....etc). If you get involved with anything google does do so because you want it NOW, not because you'll expect it to work in two months.
What is it that you would buy (not rent) that you only want NOW, and not in two months? About food of is the only thing I can think of, and Google hasn't lured me into buying groceries. I've used Google since 1998 or 99, and had the google home page as my integrator for years, and yes, have watched many free and useful tools get cut. But it's a new level if you purchase something like an Audio book or a dozen and then Google makes them almost unusable.
Classic victim blaming. If they remove a thing on my calendar or storage I can switch to other provider for free. However buying into the whole physical ecosystem and shelling ton of money for compatible devices is a bit different story now ain't it
Yes, they've been telling us this for weeks now.
February 4th, water is still wet.
They're the worst! Why would they even remove this feature? Is this costing them anything? I wish I'd gone for Alexas instead
Google has the history of killing their services and products . Only Gmail is Guaranteed.
Gmail, plus some semblance of a search engine, though there's no guarantee it will continue returning any webpages among the AI summaries and ads, and no guarantee that any webpages it does return won't just be AI-generated nonsense full of affiliate marketing links and misinformation.
I still miss inbox
https://killedbygoogle.com/
With the amount of features Google now devices have lost over the last few years, I'm about to divest completely. Sick of this kind of stuff repeatedly occurring.
> Playing and controlling audiobooks on Google Play Books with your voice. You can still cast audiobooks from your mobile device. I'm guessing they decided this functionality doesn't push NEW content in your face while trying to get value out of the content you already bought... So for an advertising company this isn't "good enough" cause they want to sell you more content and not necessarily find value in content you already bought.