What you need to know
- Google Home Max users are losing the sound detection feature in May 2025.
- The feature is available for Nest Aware subscribers, and will remain for other Home and Nest devices.
- Sound detection made it possible to receive notifications when your Home Max hears dangerous sounds.
Google released the Home Max smart speaker back in 2017, and many are in use today. However, as the company recently communicated in an email to owners, the Google Home Max is losing the sound detection feature (via 9to5Google). This feature used the Home Max microphone to listen for dangerous sounds, like glass breaking or a smoke alarm ringing, and sent a push notification to the user’s smartphone.
It required a Nest Aware subscription, but will be sunset for the Google Home Max on May 8, 2025. Google says that the feature will still be supported “on your other Google devices with your Nest Aware subscription.” It’s unclear why the feature is being dropped specifically from the Home Max, although the speaker is getting old.
“Starting May 8, 2025, your Google Home Max will no longer have the sound detection feature as part of your Nest Aware subscription,” the email reads. “Sound detection (which alerts you if glass breaking or a smoke/carbon monoxide alarm is heard) will still be supported on your other Google devices with your Nest Aware subscription.”
Sound detection is useful for making sure you don’t miss important security events while you’re away from home. A notification that glass broke or that a smoke or carbon monoxide detector went off could help homeowners respond to problems quickly. It’s especially helpful for people deep into the Google Home/Nest ecosystems, as you can look into live camera feeds to respond to sound detection pings if you have them.
As of now, sound detection will still be available on Google Home and Google Home mini hardware. 9to5Google points out that the Google Home Max runs an older firmware version, number 1.56.275994, than those other two models, which run 3.75.456944. This major disparity could be a reason why sound detection is being dropped.
The Google Home Max was discontinued four years ago, but still receives updates.