Intermittent frustration

Since Google Music was killed about the only thing I use a voice command for (on my Google Home Mini) is playing SomaFM. But even that is now becoming a pain.

When I say...

Hey Google, play SomaFM Groove Salad is something I say quite often. Drone Zone or SF-1033 are two of the other main stations I listen to.

I know Google Assistant understands what I'm saying because it repeats it back to me. I can also see it in the Voice & Audio Activity page (see screenshot).

What I get is Sure, check out this SomaFM - groove salad station on YouTube Music. No. That's not what I want.

And this isn't every time. Just occasionally.

Back to button pushing

I've written before how Google is losing me and now, it seems, one of the last things is starting to fail.

I can't tell if this is a result of Google not working with TuneIn properly (it doesn't go straight to SomaFM for some reason) or a more a deliberate ploy to accept using YouTube music as a source. My old cynical brain goes with the latter.

I think it's time to break with voice commands and get an "old-fashioned" bluetooth speaker. Just browse to the website and cast the stream to it direct.