I’ve been in the Google Home camp since the first speaker launched in November of 2016, though you might even say that I started earlier, with the first Chromecast in 2013. Since then, I’ve had a couple of Lenovo Smart Displays, some JBL Link speakers, the JBL Link View, the Google Home Mini, Nest Audio, Nest Hub, and many others that are too esoteric to remember. Today, my home houses two Nest Audios, a Pixel Tablet, and a Nest Hub, scattered across three floors, and even though I’m at the end of my patience rope with all of them, I still use them every day.
I don’t think I’m alone in this contradictory state. Every week I run across a Reddit thread of frustrated users reporting new bugs and issues, or voicing their impatience at the state of Google’s smart home. And I nod in agreement, again and again, because I am them. They are me. We’re all in this unhealthy relationship with Google’s smart home platform together. And we can’t escape.