The Bose Smart Home speakers sound great; this is how to make the software great as well

[rkous]

Bose, you make great sounding speakers. This is why I selected your speakers over the Sonos.
However, software development and user experience optimisation doesn't seem your strong suit.
This is what you need to do to create a great user experience:

1. Resolve the current HDMI ARC issues.
2. Allow for persistent speaker groups, preferably through Google speaker group support.
3. When changing volume, change the volume of the speaker group (preferably relative to the current individual speaker volume settings), not just the volume of the speaker that started the group.
4. In addition to Apple Airplay, support Google Cast.
5. When music volume is very low (like 5% for background music), make the assistant voice operate at a minimum volume, like 20-25%, so you can still hear what the assistant is replying.
6. Allow for setting voice assistant confirmation bleeps (in addition to the current visual LED confirmation), like it is possible on Google Home speakers, so you get an audible confirmation on whether the assistant has heard you. In daylight, the LED can be hard to see, and sometimes the speaker just isn't in your line of sight.
7. Make the voice assistant faster again (it used to be fine, but lately it has become slow).
8. Implement Google VoiceMatch (this is a privacy feature, which provides some protection to your private content, so you can ask e.g. what's on your calendar, but other people can't).

[Liam_W]

Hi there @rkous and thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts on our products and services!

I'm glad to hear that you enjoy our products, and thank you for the constructive feedback you have supplied here! 

I have passed your suggestions on here, and I hope that we can continue to improve your experience with our products over time.

I will also look into and see if we can replicate some of the things you have mentioned here, such as the slow speed of the voice-assistants.

If you or any other member of the Community have further suggestions, please do comment here so we can pass these on.

Liam W - Community Support

[rkous]

Wrt point 3, this already happens correctly when changing the volume through either the Bose Music app or through Spotify, but the group volume isn't adjusted when changing the volume by using the volume buttons on one of the speakers in the group (or the remote control in case of the Soundbar). In that case, only the volume of that speaker is adjusted.

[rkous]

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Now I remember the point I was trying to make:

It is about changing the volume using the voice assistant: when you say e.g. "set volume to 20%", then only the volume of the speaker that is exciting the the voice command is adjusted. But what you want as a user, is to change the volume of all the speakers in the group.

@rkous wrote:

Wrt point 3, this already happens correctly when changing the volume through either the Bose Music app or through Spotify, but the group volume isn't adjusted when changing the volume by using the volume buttons on one of the speakers in the group (or the remote control in case of the Soundbar). In that case, only the volume of that speaker is adjusted.

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