Ok Google Play 6 Music on BBC Sounds. Grrrrr

Can anyone get BBC Sounds to actually play something just by using Google voice controls (whether Google Assistant or Gemini) from your phone?

On my phone (Pixel 6a)

(1) Gemini seems to not recognize BBC Sounds at all (only offering to stream music using Spotify, which isn’t even installed on my phone or YT Music)

(2) Reverting back to the old Google Assistant, I at least get a pop-up option to launch the app but (a) I have to launch it manually (naughty when driving) and (b) even when launched, it does play/do anything.

If you’ve got it working, please let me know what magic combination of voice commands you use!

(Google and BBC Sounds help haven’t given me a workable answer part from a dumb suggestion to cast content instead, which is a non-starter in my car…)

Yes, just say –

Hey Google, play BBC radio 6

It’ll then do that…don’t mention bbc sounds as that stops it from working. It will then play what is being broadcast at that time. I use that when I want to listen to BBC radio 2 or BBC radio 4 extra.

If it is a particular show you want to listen to, you need to open the app on your phone and start the show and then cast to your Google speaker. I do that for listening to a particular show on BBC radio 4 extra.

No idea but my better half  thinks Siri is some kind of attention-stealing slut that competes with her because I ask it to set a timer or remind me to buy tin foil.

Which I find quite sweet tbh.

@DickBarton

I tried your suggestion to drop “BBC Sounds” from the command but I still get the same pop-up to manually launch the app. I’ve had a look at the BBC Sounds app permissions and nothing relevant is disabled. Weird…

Remind me to buy tinfoil

For a hat?

I always have to tell google which device to play music or radio etc on eg. OK google play radio scotland on kitchen display

Hey Google, play BBC radio 6

This. On a Lenovo Google alarm clock thing.

‘Hey Google, play Six Music’. On various Google speakers and my phone when I’m in the car.

Sometimes I have to specify the device, but only when it’s different to the speaker that’s listening to me.

mine works fine on my google home dock/screen thing, but I have the same issue with my phone (pixel 7) when driving – it just opens the Sounds app, without playing anything.

frustrating.

‘Hey Google, play Six Music’. On various Google speakers and my phone when I’m in the car.

WTF! I keep getting the stupid pop-up launcher. I’m guessing there’s something buried deep down in some settings somewhere but I’m drawing a blank…

(For context, I’m not using a smart speaker or Google Home device – it’s mostly just or Bluetooth audio content to my cars stereo [It’s doesn’t have Android Auto] or a regular/dumb Bluetooth speaker at home)

if it’s any consolation the lenovo bedside clock often works when the google nest thing doesn’t at home, when given identical commands, such as ‘hey google, play bbc radio 6 music’. sometimes the same device doesn’t recognise the same commands, or, if it recognises the command doesn’t recognise the device it relates to such as a particular Hue bulb’s description. WTF the system doesn’t cache commands locally and do a compare and contrast if it doesn’t get a result is absolutely beyond me. i’ve had these things for about 5 years now and i only ever ask it to do the same stuff. smart home is very much a misnomer IMV. grr.

on dad’s alexa,  the first command is “alexa, open bbc sounds”. once that’s done, THEN you say what you want to play

So this is where they all seem to be different!

On our Alexa’s all we have to say is ‘Alexa, Play Six Music’, or ‘Alexa, play Radio 1’ etc.

No Open BBC sounds stuff.

I just say to my google speaker

‘OK google play radio 6’

and it does

works exactly the same on my alexas

I have a similar problem launching 6 music with Google Assistant on my phone, not found a reliable solution.  Alexa’s usually spot on with it though, although this morning when I asked “her” to play Radio Suffolk, she played Radiohead instead…

vlad_the_invaderFull Member
‘Hey Google, play Six Music’. On various Google speakers and my phone when I’m in the car.
WTF! I keep getting the stupid pop-up launcher. I’m guessing there’s something buried deep down in some settings somewhere but I’m drawing a blank…

(For context, I’m not using a smart speaker or Google Home device – it’s mostly just or Bluetooth audio content to my cars stereo [It’s doesn’t have Android Auto] or a regular/dumb Bluetooth speaker at home)

How weird and annoying. I’m trying to think if I need to have the phone unlocked to talk to it in the car (usually I have maps on) but I’m pretty sure I’ve managed to make it work once by shouting at it in my pocket.

Do you have the Google Home app installed and set up? That might make a difference maybe?

Do you have the Google Home app installed and set up? That might make a difference maybe?

Yes I have it installed though it’s a bit of a mystery to me as I don’t have any home automation (apart from a couple of Chromecast – and I never bother with automation or voice control at home)

What would I need to check in Google Home??

Never works for me on Sonos Roam with Google.

Usually plays 6music playlist on Spotify.

Watching with intestine (i love autocorrect!)…

For me it had always been pretty simple, “hey google, play bbc radio six”.

But over the christmas period the response became, “ok. Here’s a spottify selection called ‘radio 4 choral selection'”

Like watching my brother repeatedly ask his dog to stop doing something, my ever more exasperated, simplistic, rephrased, instructions, eventually illicited the desired response (although, luck succeeding over judgement being likely to be the barer of the required result both cases).

Today i heard a trailer on bbc for, “Start any current show by saying xyz.  Missed a bit? Rewind by saying this… Wish you had caught your usual abc time show? Just say…. ”

And assumed they had been frigging with the voice prompts over christmas period to account for this.

Being the cynic i had been  wondering if google was just misbehaving on purpose to ‘learn’ how my voice changes under duress!

All good here now though (i wonder how ‘regional’ / ‘localised’ these roll-outs are).

I’ve just got a widget on the homepage of my iPhone that opens 6Music direct – it’s 2 taps on the screen when closed, so quicker even than a Siri command. Does a Pixel not do that?

Does a Pixel not do that?

I can’t compare directly to an iPhone but I’ve got the BBC Sounds installed on my phone’s homescreen but if the phone goes into power save mode (like I’ve forgotten to plug it in), then the screen is off and I’d have to punch in my PIN to unlock it, then fire up the app, then find the program I wanted to play.

Not ideal when driving! And theoretically not needed if voice control worked properly…

Never had an issue with hey Google play bbc radio 6. Play bbc radio 5 however gets some album from someone I’ve never heard of. Need to say bbc radio five live.

On a related note has anyone had issue casting pocketcast recently? It plays for 1 second then pauses.

I’ve been experimenting with the least number of words. I can now get consistent success with:

“Ok Google, Radio 6”

I can also say

“Hey boo boo, radio 6” said in a yogi bear accent.

(Old Google home speaker)