Google Home brings back sounds for Gemini, and I’m both elated and irritated [Video]

Classic Google Assistant sounds for special timers have returned, but the "confirm" sound for smart home commands has changed unexpectedly. Many users, including myself, noticed the change this morning. My wife and I first observed the new sound during our bedtime command on our Google Home speaker, and it has continued throughout the day with our morning tea timers.

Personally, I am not fond of the new smart home command sounds as they sound similar to error tones rather than the previous clear "ding" success command. I have created a quick video compilation showcasing some of the new sounds, including a pizza timer and the on/off commands given by Gemini when issuing smart home commands.

It appears that several others on Reddit have also received the new sounds. From my observations, most of the classic Google Assistant timer sounds have returned, including those that were absent since Gemini replaced Google Assistant on smart speakers earlier this year. However, these new sounds seem to only be enabled on certain generations of speakers. My original 2017 Google Home speaker still plays generic sounds, while the newer 2026 Google Home Speaker features the expanded sound list mentioned above.

I have reached out to Google to inquire if any additional sounds have been added and will update this article if I receive a response. For more news, be sure to check out 9to5Google on YouTube.