Some Google Assistant smart devices are struggling to set 12-minute timers

Some Google Assistant-powered smart home devices are struggling to set 12-minute timers, according to a growing number of reports from users.

Spotted by Android Police, reports on Reddit and the Google support forum detail how, over the last several months, Google Assistant on Nest smart speakers and displays (and in some cases, even Android phones) has stopped setting 12-minute timers when asked with certain wording.

When asked to “set a timer for 12 minutes,” the Assistant seems to misunderstand the request and sets a timer for two minutes instead. The bug impacts some variations of the request — for example, asking for a timer that’s 12 minutes and 30 seconds gives a two-minute and 30-second timer instead.

However, the bug only seems to impact commands that say “timer” before the amount of time. Asking for a “12-minute timer” works, or even dropping minutes and saying “set a timer for 12” works too. Users can also ask for an 11-minute and 59-second timer, or a 720-second timer (which totals up to 12 minutes).

Android Police notes the bug impacts both U.S. and U.K. English but didn’t seem present in other languages, like German or Spanish.

Community Specialists on the Google support forums suggested users try changing devices to U.S. English, rebooting, and even doing full factory resets, but impacted users say these steps haven’t fixed the problem.

Source: Reddit, Google support Via: Android Police