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Google begins testing 3.79 firmware on older Home and Nest speakers, improving setup and audio

Google is testing a 3.79 firmware update for older Google Home and Nest speakers that Google says improves setup, Wi‑Fi, audio and smart home control. The update is currently in the Preview Program for Google Home (2016), Home Mini (2017), Nest Mini (2019) and Nest Audio (2020) and will roll out to production in stages.

AI-assisted synthesis · Based on 3 outlets' reporting · Full text read from 2 of 3 outletsHow it's made

3 outletsLatest reporting 2 min read
Coverage: Center OnlyL 0 · C 3 · R 0
Updat3 graphic: Google
Updat3 graphic

What happened

Key facts

  • Google is testing a 3.79 firmware update for older Google Home and Nest speakers (per 9to5google.com, droid-life.com).
  • Google says the 3.79 update improves setup and the Wi‑Fi experience (per 9to5google.com, droid-life.com).
  • Google says the 3.79 update improves audio performance and smart home control (per 9to5google.com, droid-life.com).
  • The 3.79 release is being tested in Google’s Preview Program (per 9to5google.com, droid-life.com).
  • The Preview Program enrollment is available from the Google Home app via the device page > settings gear > Device information > Preview program (per 9to5google.com, droid-life.com).
  • The 3.79 update is being tested on Google Home (2016), Home Mini (2017), Nest Mini (2019) and Nest Audio (2020) (per 9to5google.com).
  • 9to5Google reports the Google Home Max has been running older firmware and was not included in this 3.79 test wave (per 9to5google.com, droid-life.com).
  • 9to5Google reports the Home Speaker was not included in this wave and may already have the improvements because it launched recently (per 9to5google.com, androidauthority.com, droid-life.com).

The brief

Google has begun testing a new 3.79 firmware release for a set of older Home and Nest smart speakers, rolling the code into its existing Preview Program for device firmware. The company says the release brings a package of improvements aimed at setup flows, Wi‑Fi reliability, audio performance and smart‑home controls on devices without screens.

Google has placed Google Home (2016), Home Mini (2017), Nest Mini (2019) and Nest Audio (2020) into the Preview Program for this 3.79 update; users can opt in from the Google Home app by opening a device page, tapping the settings gear, selecting Device information and then Preview program.

Droid Life reports the firmware appears in testing as build 3.79.550760, while 9to5Google describes the update more broadly as enhancing setup and connectivity and explicitly notes audio and smart‑home control improvements.

Both outlets say Google is distributing the update in stages, so there is no supported manual forcing of the rollout and production release will come after the Preview period.

9to5Google flags that the Google Home Max is still on older firmware and was not part of this 3.79 testing wave, and it notes the Home Speaker also was not included and might already have the improvements because it launched recently.

The coverage across outlets is consistent that the Preview Program is the channel for early access and that a general production push will follow the staged testing; Droid Life and 9to5Google both direct readers to check device settings in the Google Home app to see update status.

The reporting focuses on improvements for devices that lack displays, where audio and smart‑home control changes are particularly consequential, and both outlets frame the release as part of ongoing incremental maintenance of Google’s speaker lineup.

Neither outlet offers independent performance measurements or precise timing for the production rollout beyond saying the update will be released to the production channel in staged phases after testing.

Why it matters

  • Owners of older Google Home and Nest speakers who enroll in the Preview Program can get earlier access to setup, Wi‑Fi and audio improvements, changing the immediate user experience for those specific device models.
  • Devices without screens — specifically Google Home (2016), Home Mini (2017), Nest Mini (2019) and Nest Audio (2020) — are the documented beneficiaries of the changes, concentrating the functional gains (audio and smart‑home control) on speaker‑only hardware.
  • Users of Google Home Max and the Home Speaker should not expect this 3.79 test wave to include those devices, per 9to5Google, so owners of those models will not see these staged updates according to current reporting.

What to watch next

  • Whether Google moves the 3.79 build from the Preview Program into the production channel for all users, as both outlets say will happen after staged testing.
  • Whether Google flags additional device models (such as Google Home Max or Home Speaker) for 3.79 when the production rollout begins, given 9to5Google’s note that those models were excluded from the current test wave.
  • Whether Google publishes specific release notes or performance metrics for the 3.79.550760 build that confirm the audio and Wi‑Fi improvements reported by Droid Life and 9to5Google.

How it's being covered

Coverage analysisShow details
3 source articles · 3 unique outlets
Coverage mix: Center Only· 3 Center
Where the outlets are based: Unknown 67% · US/Canada 33%
Coverage mix
Center Only
Left
Center
Right
0 outlets
3 outlets
0 outlets
The marker shows coverage balance: each unique outlet counts once.
Geography
Where the outlets covering this story are based.
3 unique outletsDominant coverage: US/Canada
Coverage imbalance
  • Coverage is currently concentrated among Center-rated outlets (3 of 3 rated sources); comparatively few Left or Right-rated outlets have published on the event.
How we measure coverage

How outlets' accounts compare

1 factual disagreement · 1 framing difference · 3 uncorroborated claims · 2 information gaps
Sources disagree on one factual point.Compared across 2 reports whose full text Updat3 used; 1 other outlet was checked by headline only.
Factual disagreements
Sources report different numbers, dates, attribution or causes for the same thing.
  • Both outlets attribute the testing and the described improvements to Google; Droid Life provides the specific build number while 9to5Google supplies device‑level inclusion/exclusion details.
Updat3: The evidence conflicts; Updat3 does not present either version as established.
Framing / emphasis differences
Sources agree on the facts but emphasise different angles, actors or consequences.
  • 9to5Google emphasizes setup and Wi‑Fi improvements alongside audio and smart‑home control, while Droid Life highlights the firmware build number 3.79.550760 and describes the changes broadly as "improvements".
Updat3: The underlying facts agree; only the emphasis differs.
One-sided or uncorroborated claims
Claims that come from one party or one source family and are not independently corroborated.
  • Droid Life reports the firmware build as 3.79.550760; no other numerical build identifier is provided by 9to5Google.
  • 9to5Google: the 3.79 update "improves the setup and Wi‑Fi experience, as well as audio performance and smart home control."
  • Droid Life: the update is rolling out as build 3.79.550760 and focuses on "improvements" for older devices.
Updat3: Not independently corroborated yet — treat as a claim, not an established fact.
Not established by the reporting
Information the available reporting does not contain or confirm. This is a gap, not a disagreement.
  • No source provides independent performance tests or quantitative measurements showing how setup, Wi‑Fi or audio actually improve after installing the 3.79 firmware.
  • No source gives a precise production rollout date for the wider release of 3.79.
Updat3: Updat3 cannot conclude anything about this from the current sources.

How we got here

Google is testing a firmware update numbered 3.79 for multiple older Home and Nest speaker models, with Google saying the build improves setup and Wi‑Fi experience, audio performance and smart‑home control. 9to5Google and Droid Life also observe that references to “Google Assistant” in coverage are presumably references to Gemini.

Original sources

1 of 3 articles · US/Canada · Show all

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