Thanks to Sonos, Google speakers lose an important feature
One of the most convenient features of Google Home and Nest speakers will soon disappear thanks to a patent dispute with Sonos. You will no longer be able to control the volume of speaker groups, and owners will have to adjust the volume for each speaker individually.
What’s the problem with the patent dispute?
The US International Trade Commission (ITC) recently ruled that Google products infringe Sonos’ patents. The consequences can be far worse than simply losing software functionality. Sonos has already stated that Google will have to modify the features, which is already happening. This week, Google announced an urgent software update that is supposed to remove some speaker functions. Owners of Google devices on the forums express frustration.
Although this may not seem a key feature at first glance, it is something many people use. For example, after such changes, instead of saying, “Hey Google, turn up the volume on the speakers in the kitchen,” owners will now have to adjust the volume for each speaker separately.
Essentially, the “group volume control” function is only the beginning. After all, it’s not just voice control. Users can no longer adjust the volume of groups from the phone in the Google Home app or Google Nest devices. Google also said that a small group of users with devices from other manufacturers, such as JBL, may need to update the firmware to the latest version to continue using the speaker group functionality.
These changes only affect groups of speakers, so individual Google Home and Nest speakers should work as expected. Also, you can still use speaker groups, but volume control will be impossible.
Google spokesman Jose Castañeda said: “While we disagree with today’s decision, we appreciate the International Trade Commission’s approval of our changes, and we do not expect the regulator to impact sales of our products. We will seek further review of the decision and will continue to defend against Sonos’ claims regarding our partnership and intellectual property.”
What’s next?
As mentioned above, Google previously received permission from the ITC to modify the software, which means that Google does not expect any import bans or problems with product implementation. However, this is just the beginning of an even bigger fight, and we expect more patent lawsuits to come in the future.
In any case, it’s a shame that while Google is getting sued, we, the users, have to pay for it by losing key and convenient features.
