The first changes from the Sonos vs Google trial are starting to arrive on the Google Home app. The multimedia content menu no longer allows you to vary the volume using the telephone buttons.
A feature under development will soon allow Google Assistant to manage quick tasks without the “Ok Google” command // Source: BENCE BOROS – Unsplash
This Friday, January 7, we learned that it would no longer be possible to vary the volume of a group of Google Home speakers at once. This is the first fallout from a lawsuit lost by Google against Sonos, which accused it of having used five patents of the company specializing in sound without its agreement.
If we once thought that Google would see part of its imports blocked, including its products made in Asia, the Mountain View firm was offered the possibility of implementing alternative solutions in the software of its products. instead of outright blocking. And these solutions are starting to arrive very concretely in the hands of users.
Annoying change
We learn today that the first solution found by Google is starting to be deployed. According to 9to5Google, the latest version of the Google Home application (2.47.79.5), a sort of central hub for the connected home Google style, no longer allows you to vary the volume of a group of speakers with the volume button on your phone.
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More precisely, after checking on our part, if you go to the Multimedia content menu, it was previously possible to adjust the volume of one or more speakers as you wish using the physical buttons on your phone, or even a Chromecast or any other connected device. This is no longer the case.
The speaker group always accessible
While this change is boring, the biggest is yet to come. On the application, it is still possible to vary the volume of a group of speakers from the “current playback” menu. In light of Google’s statements following the trial findings, it is expected that this option too will eventually no longer be available.
For the moment, the version of the application available on the Play Store is 2.47.78.2. But the next iteration, 2.47.79.5 will indeed remove this feature.
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