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How to Fix TuneIn not working on Google Home

In this guide, we will show you various workarounds to fix the issue of TuneIn not working on Google Home. One of the most popular audio streaming services, TuneIn beholds a plethora of live news, radio, sports, music, and podcast shows from various sources. Then its cross-device support adds up more to its arsenal. However, it seems to be going through a rough patch as of late.

Many Google Home users are complaining that TuneIn is no longer working with this device. TuneIn is working well and good across smartphones and the channels are also up and running, so the issue is not with the service, but rather is specific to this Google device itself. What is even more concerning is the fact that this seems to be a recurring issue.

google home caanot play radio on tunein

As evident from this Google Support Forum, the issue first came to light in the first half of 2019. And as per various user reports across Reddit and Twitter, it seems to have resurfaced. So when a user is requesting Google to “play X radio on TuneIn”, the device accepts the command but then goes silent.

In other instances, the device spells out that “the stream is not compatible with this device/player.” No doubt this issue is quite concerning and infuriating in equal measures. With that said, I have managed to find out a few workarounds that seem to fix the issue of TuneIn not working on Google Home. So without any further ado, let’s get started.

How to Fix TuneIn not working on Google Home

fix tunein not working on google home

Given below are three different types of fixes that have been known to spell out success for some users. Follow along.

Fix 1: Using the Cast inside Chrome Feature

  1. Start off by opening TuneIn inside the Chrome browser (on your PC or smartphone).
  2. Then select your desired radio station.
  3. Once that is done, select the Cast option via the Chrome menu and then select your device.

Fix 2: Using the Radio Keyword Tweak

This seems to be kind of a counterintuitive fix in the sense that it worked out for some but for the others, just the reversal of this fix proved to be their savior. Let’s check out both these methods to fix the issue of TuneIn not working on Google Home.

First off, rather than saying “Hey Google – Play Radio XYZ on (room)”, you should consider leaving out the Radio word from this sentence. SO try saying “Hey Google – Play XYZ on (room)” and see if it does work out or not.

Now, the second set of users were already saying “Hey Google – Play XYZ”. However, that didn’t work out for them. So they then added the Radio word to the above statement and the issue got rectified. In other words, the “Hey Google Play Radio XYZ” worked out for them.

Fix 3: Google’s Suggestion to Fix TuneIn not working on Home

So the Silicon Valley giants seem to have spoken (finally!) on this issue as well. Here’s what they had to say:

Here’s the English translation of their aforementioned statement:

Okay, indeed we are aware of this incident and we are working to solve it as soon as possible together with TuneIn. Meanwhile, what you can do is play this station on your mobile and send the content to Google Home with the button that the app has.

So try out their fix and see if it gives out any favorable results or not.

Conclusion

So these were some of the workarounds that have been known to give out variable degrees of success when it comes to fixing the aforementioned query. We would continuously be updating this guide with more workarounds as and when we get hold of the same.

In the meantime, if you know of any such tweak that helped you to fix the issue of TuneIn not working on Google Home, then do let us know in the comments section below.

UPDATE 1 [May 27, 2022]: Issue resurfaces

Well, the issue seems to have made a comeback yet again. As of now, various users have voiced their concern that when they initiate the command “Hey Google play XYZ Radio”, they do get a response that “Playing XYZ Radio on Tunein”, but that’s just about it, the radio never starts. While if you head over to the Google Home app, it says that the speaker is streaming “Tunein”, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

fix tunein not working on google home

Be it CBC Music, CBC Rdio One, or BBC, all these popular services are being bugged with this issue. So it further concretes the fact that something is [again] wrong on Google’s end and not these services. As far as the official stance on this matter is concerned, the developers are aware of this issue, but they haven’t given out any ETA for the rollout of a fix. As and when that happens, we will update this guide accordingly.


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  • The workaround of casting from my phone no longer works either. This issue just keeps getting worse each quarter.