[Updated] TuneIn not working on Google Home a known issue that's still awaiting a fix, but you may try this workaround

New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…

Original story (published on April 12, 2021) follows:

If you listen to radio on your smartphone, you probably use the TuneIn app to do so. TuneIn works on just about every platform including on Google Home, Google Home Mini, Home Max, JBL Link, and more.

For the most part, the service works fine although it does go down or stops working at times for all users, which is common for such applications so there’s nothing to worry about.

But now it seems that some Google Home users are reporting that TuneIn has stopped working on their devices recently.

Here are some reports for reference:

Same issue here. Radio stations that were working a couple of days ago, now are showing the same behavior. I can listen to it on TuneIn in my phone (so the radio station is working). But when I ask Google to “play X radio on tunein”, as I always did, it accepts the command and then it goes silent. (Source)

Tunein not working on google home when asked to play cbc radio tunein says stream is not compatible with device even though plays fine on my phone (Source)

Same here. Worked for the last months and today in the morning stopped streaming TuneIn channels. No station is working…. (Source)

According to some Google Home users, the assistant says “ok, playing radio,” when asked to play a radio station, however, there’s no sound. Others claim that that they get a message saying “this stream is not compatible with this player.”

The problem has been around for a few years now but Google has not been able to or is unwilling to fix it since the problem was acknowledged towards the tail-end of last year.

A ‘Community specialist’ on the company’s community forums claimed that Google is aware and looking into the issue at hand, however, there has been no official response after that.

While users await an official fix for the seemingly unfixable problem, there’s a workaround shared by a user that you can try out for yourself too.

I am using a temporary solution(maybe helps):
– I open tunein on chrome (phone or pc)
– I choose the desired radio station
– Then I click Cast inside Chrome menu, and I choose the device.

That works for me, but what is the point to use Google Home if is not working. (Source)

Of course, the workaround is nowhere near as convenient as the real deal but it’s worth a shot for the time being. Since the problem has been around for a couple of years, it’s unclear if and when Google will fix it.

As usual, we’ll keep track of the situation and will post an update once there are any new developments regarding TuneIn not working on Google Home devices.

Even after months, the issue continues to persist and trouble users. And all they can do is wait for the fix to arrive. In case, any other development catches our sight, we’ll share.

While Google is looking into the matter, here’s what they’re suggesting the affected users – complaining about being taken to YouTube instead of playing the request on TuneIn – to do (translated):

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.

The support has shared yet another workaround:

We’re also looking into similar reports lately where Google Home can’t play several TuneIn stations. If restarting your network and Google Home doesn’t work, try saying “Hey Google, play 102.0 P4 Malmöhus FM on TuneIn”. If it’s still not working, drop us a DM.

They further add:

it’s possible that your Google Home and TuneIn are experiencing interference or could be app-related. Try rebooting your devices and Wi-Fi router by unplugging them from the wall outlet for about 2 minutes as it might do the trick.

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