Google Home devices are refusing to add items to lists on Keep

It feels like we’re reporting on a Google Home bug or a fix almost every other day. Only today, users received some good news following reports of devices refusing to set alarms over voice commands. Sadly, those good times aren’t going to last, and it now looks like yet another function is being impacted by a similar glitch, as some people are seemingly unable to add items to their lists on Google Keep using Google Home voice commands.

In a series of complaints on Reddit, including one from Friday, a user claims the voice assistant recognizes their commands perfectly well, but refuses to add items to the list. For instance, if the person asks one of their Google Home devices to “add x to list xyz,” the assistant might respond by saying how many items are on that list, while refusing to add any new items.

Another user explains that they are facing a similar ordeal, making it virtually impossible to add items to their shopping lists on Keep over voice commands. The issue appears to impact others differently, with one person in the replies claiming that Google Home can add items to one of their lists named “Shopping list” but can’t do the same for other lists.

At the same time, we’re also seeing reports from a few users who say this functionality works fine, though the volume of complaints suggests the issue may not be isolated. We’ve reached out to Google for comment on this issue and will update this article if and when it shares a statement with us.

Interestingly, navigating to the Notes & lists settings page in the Google Home app (Home settings > Notes & lists) reveals a “Disable notes and lists” radio button, which is set to on by default and cannot be turned off. The accompanying message reads, “You won’t be able to use notes & lists with your voice assistant,” indicating this functionality has been removed.

For now, the only option affected users have is to add items to their Google Keep lists manually. With the voice assistant clearly recognizing existing lists as well as the items within them in some cases, we’d be surprised if the functionality was removed, especially without prior notice to Google Home users.