Despite not being sold through the Google store in Portugal, Mountain View powered smart speakers are very popular with those who want to have a smarter home.
These are a good alternative to the Amazon Echo rivals, but they are bound to get worse. It’s just that Google was accused by Sonos of patent infringement, and the US International Trade Commission has already ruled that Google lost the case.
It is no longer possible to adjust the volume of Google speakers in a group
This means, in practice, that if you have multiple Google smart speakers at home, they will get a bit worse. This is because you will no longer be able to adjust the volume of the group’s speakers.
Google reacted immediately to this news and released a statement of “upcoming changes to the group’s column.” Google explains that “to adjust the volume of your groups of speakers, you will need to adjust each speaker individually instead of using the group volume controller. You will also not be able to change the volume of the speaker group with the physical volume button on your smartphone. “
Google clarifies that the speaker groups should continue to work as expected, unless you have speakers from other brands like Lenovo or JBL. In such cases, they must be at least firmware version 1.52.272222.
Google has 60 days to make this change, so you shouldn’t feel this limitation right away. If you are one of those people who likes to have multiple speakers playing at the same time, this is a loss that you will certainly feel.