Google claims the issue was caused by “a recent software update.”
Google accidentally enabled home smart speakers to listen to more than just voice commands. Last week, a Reddit user, Brazedowl revealed that he received a rather curious alert on his phone, wherein, Google notified him that his smoke detector has gone off.
Luckily for Brazedowl, he was at home cooking and immediately took notice. But at that moment he realized that he had no idea whether his smart speaker was supposed to detect such sounds.
The Reddit user wrote:
“Google just made my dumb smoke detectors smart, pretty rad.’
Google Home devices have been a huge hit. They are known to perform some of the coolest functions including working simultaneously with other devices as an intercom, dim lights, change temperature, and even turn on kettle or microwave.
See: Smart home devices can be hacked within minutes through Google search
But here is the catch: the home devices are supposed to respond to only ‘active wake words’ such as “Hey Google’ or ‘Ok Google’. But in this case, the speaker responded to a passive-inert sound.
Screenshot of the notification (Credit: Bbrazedowl via Reddit)
However, this wasn’t the only instance, other Reddit users ElectricalJigalo wrote getting notified by Google for sounds like glass breaking, popping bubble ..
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