Google aware of Home & Away routines setup issue (option missing from app) on Nest speakers, but there's a workaround

Google Nest is the company’s line of Smart Home products. However, some users are reporting issues while trying to set routines on Nest speakers and other devices through Google Home app.

Google routines allows you to establish a set of actions that are activated when you say a keyword or phrase. Routines can be set through the Google Home app.

The established routines are compatible with smartphones/tablets and with Google Home devices (such as Nest speakers).

In addition to the pre-established routines, Google allows you to create custom routines according to your needs. For this, you only have to set the trigger phrase, and then the actions that will be activated.

Having said all the above, some users are reporting an issue that doesn’t allow them to set routines.

Most of the reports (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) agree on the same thing: the option to set up ‘Home and Away Routines’ disappears.

In certain reported cases, the option appears at the beginning, but then there is an error in the process. As an example of this, is the following report:

After adding some smart devices to the Google Home App for iOS, the option to set up Home and Away Routines appears. However, when trying to complete the process, I run into an issue where I cannot accept ‘Supplemental Nest Terms’. I receive the error ‘Problem Connecting to Cloud’.
Source

There are also reported cases where the routines option is never available in the Google Home app, such as the following:

Hi there. I can’t seem to get the “routines” button to appear in my Google Home App. When I ask my devices to set up a routine it directs me to the Google Home App and says to select “Routines” but I am not given this option.
Source

In one of the reports, one of the affected users points out the following:

I tried setting this up with my wife’s Google account and did not have the same issue
Source.

To this report, a Community Specialist from Nest support forums confirmed that the issue has been escalated. In addition, it also provides a workaround while waiting for a definitive fix.

Basically, the Community Specialist recommends affected users to create a new Google account to use it with routines while they wait for Google to resolve the issue.

For now, it only remains to wait for updates on the matter. When new related news appears, we will update this article to keep you informed.

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