Google Updates Chromecast, Nest Wifi and Home Speakers

If you've got a Chromecast, a Nest Wifi system or a Google Home speaker, something new is probably downloading onto it this week. Google's October 29 Google Home release notes list a big batch of firmware updates, and a few of them fix the kind of bugs that make people want to throw a speaker out the window.

What happened

The updates are listed in Google's official What's new in Google Home page, and 9to5Google flagged them on X. Here's what each device gets:

• Chromecast with Google TV (4K and HD): the Android security patch moves up to August 2026, plus better connectivity, streaming and display performance and general bug fixes. Google keeps the current build numbers on its Chromecast firmware page.
• Nest Wifi Pro: the router can now fall back to your ISP's DNS automatically when public DNS is blocked, node setup is more reliable, mesh signal and client steering are tuned, and there are security fixes.
• Nest Wifi router and point (2019): stronger mesh resilience, better DNS fallback and security fixes.
• Nest and Google Home speakers: smoother streaming, less boomy bass on stereo pairs, faster discovery in the Home app, a fix for speakers that couldn't join Wi-Fi 7 networks using WPA3, and a fix for stereo pairs and speaker groups vanishing from the app.

The same notes also fix alarms and timers that were set to zero volume, and speakers saying "Sorry, I didn't understand" when nobody had spoken. Droid Life has the full list too.

Why it matters

The silent alarm bug is the scary one. If you rely on a Nest speaker to wake you up, a zero-volume alarm is a missed morning. Google says the alarm and timer volume will now match your device volume in that situation.

The Wi-Fi 7 fix matters too. Plenty of people are upgrading their routers this year, and older speakers refusing to connect over WPA3 was a real headache. The Nest Wifi Pro DNS change is a quieter reliability win: if a network blocks Google's public DNS, your internet keeps working instead of looking dead.

What to do

• Chromecast with Google TV: go to Settings > System > About > System update to grab it now.
• Nest Wifi and speakers: these update on their own, usually overnight. You can check the version in the Google Home app under the device's settings.
• Use a speaker as an alarm? Set a test alarm tonight and make sure you can actually hear it.
• Prefer your own DNS? Note that the Nest Wifi Pro may now switch to your ISP's DNS if your chosen one is blocked. My guide to Private DNS on Android shows how to set it per device.