Google Home users report colour-change commands failing, lights show as “offline”

Update 26/06/25 – 10:21 am (IST): Google has confirmed that it has fixed the bug preventing users from changing the colors of their smart lights via voice commands. Responding in a thread discussing the issue, the GoogleHelpCommunity account posted the following:

Hey, we’ve resolved an issue impacting the ability to change the color of your Smart Lights using voice commands. If you are still experiencing issues, let us know by replying to this post.

Original article published on June 25, 2025, follows:

Something strange seems to be going on with Google Home over the past few days. Reports have been pouring in from frustrated users whose Google Home devices are suddenly refusing to change the colour of their smart lights. To add to the confusion, when asked to adjust colours, the devices are incorrectly claiming that the lights are “offline.” This comes just days after Wemo users were unable to control their devices through the Google Home app completely.

I’ve been sifting through online forums and communities, and it seems this isn’t an isolated incident. People are reporting the exact same problem across various brands of smart lights, including popular ones like Philips Hue, Wiz, Cync by GE, Govee, and Tuya Smart Home. It all points to a broader issue, likely on Google’s end, rather than individual device malfunctions.

Interestingly, while voice commands for colour changes are failing, users can still turn their lights on and off, and even adjust brightness levels using Google Home voice commands. What’s more, the light’s own native apps work perfectly fine for all functions, including colour changes. This tells us the lights themselves are online and capable, but something in the Google Home system is tripping up.

One user, PacketofCrisps, shared their experience, which I found echoed by many:

Strange issue, across three different ‘works with google’ devices, including Phillips Hue, I can’t change the colour of my lights, yet every other aspect of control works via Google voice, dimming, turning on and off etc, but when you say ‘hey Google set lights to blue’ for example Google says ‘lights offline’, but if you say hey Google turn the lights off’ it’s does so!! Also I can change the colour of the lights using each devices own app.

Another user, Jessafur, described a similar situation, noting how “turn on lights” sometimes gives an “1 or more devices are offline” error, repeating it for each light. Yet, “set lights to x%” works without a hitch. It’s a truly head-scratching bug.

It’s clear this isn’t just a minor glitch. Many users rely on these voice commands for daily convenience, and having a core function suddenly fail is incredibly disruptive. The issue appears to have started around Monday, June 23, as several users mentioned it began “yesterday afternoon” or “yesterday morning” from their posts on Tuesday. P.S. The app picked up an update as well recently, so the bug might have slipped through that.

For now, the workaround is to use the individual smart light apps to change colours or to manually adjust them within the Google Home app itself, if that option is still available. But for those who’ve grown accustomed to the ease of voice commands, it’s a frustrating step backward.

I haven’t found any acknowledgement from Google regarding the bug, so it’s unclear how long it’ll take a fix to arrive. That said, a server-side tweak should likely be able to address the issue once the company manages to narrow down the cause. As usual, we’ll be on the lookout for any further developments and will update the article if there’s something to share.