Google Assistant Changed Its Calming White Noise & It’s Stressing Users Out
Google Assistant, included in Google’s smart speakers and Android devices, comes with a feature that will allow users to play various ambient sounds.
Environments like rain and a fireplace can be recreated for a soothing evening wind-down and classic white noise helps to fill an otherwise silent space.
But lately, Google’s white noise has been anything but relaxing especially to longtime users. An abrupt change saw the previous track, which many relied on to be able to get themselves or their young children to sleep, replaced with a shorter, quieter one.
Perhaps the worst part of it all is that when the track loops, the break is noticeable.
Hey @Google
— Matthew White 💉😷 💕 (@matthewmwhite) January 15, 2022
Whoever decided to change the .wav file you use for White Noise on Google Home devices just caused a fifteen hour tantrum
A post on the Google Nest forum is filled with comments from tired users and exhausted parents, relieved that they weren’t the only ones who noticed a change but reluctant for the new track to stay.
“Talking about feeling crazy,” one user writes. “I thought I had clogged ears or something.”
“My toddler has noticed the sound change and now wakes during the night,” they continue. “Please revert back to the original noise. It was so much nicer.”
A tweet from the Made by Google account stated “we don't have any details to share about why the white noise sound of the Google Home was changed,” and another reply asked the user to “tell us the exact command structure that you’re using on your device.”
“We’re aware of similar reports regarding the changes in white noise and we’d like to gather more details,” the tweet writes, which indicates that the change might not have been a deliberate one.
Regardless of it being an accident or not, relief comes in the form of an official reply on the disgruntled forum thread, confirming that the original white noise track is back and “working as it previously did.”
We can all (literally) sleep easy tonight.
