Wondering why the Sky Glass voice control not working? Well, you’re not alone in this!
The Voice Guidance Sky Glass feature isn’t recognising or executing your pronounced voice commands due to TV or remote issues.
A functional voice remote is essential to enhance the functionality of voice activation and verify that there will be no issues with the voice commands.
Whenever the Sky Glass’s voice control feature isn’t working, test whether the command is working and replace the remote batteries. If that doesn’t help, force a firmware update on the Sky Glass, check the internet, and conduct a factory reset to resolve the problem!
Let’s keep unwrapping!
Why is the Sky Glass Remote Voice Control Not Working?
The Sky Glass voice assistant allows you to operate the TV entirely with your voice.
After pressing the “Microphone” button, you must activate the voice assistant and input the desired voice command into the Sky Voice remote.
Here’s what could prevent the voice feature on the Sky Glass from working:
It’s crucial to remember that if the voice assistant doesn’t recognise your voice command, you will hear a “Sorry, I didn’t quite get that” message.
To double-check whether the assistant is working, press the button coloured in blue on the voice remote and repeat the same command.
Sky Glass Optional Voice Command:
Here are some tested Sky Glass commands to test your TV during the troubleshooting:
- “Hello Sky, open the Netflix app”.
- “Hello Sky, volume up or down”.
- “Hello Sky, what should I watch?”.
Info: The Sky Glass will recognise any command type once the desired application is installed and updated to the latest firmware version!
Sky Glass Voice Control Not Working – Proven Fix!
Tip: Follow our steps in a consecutive order!
1. Activate “Hands-Free Voice Control”
To access the Sky Glass voice assistant, the “Voice mics” feature must be enabled within the “Hands-Free Voice Control” menu.
Pressing the microphone button on the voice remote will provide access to the built-in Sky Glass voice assistant.
Here’s how to enable the “Voice mics” option in the settings:
- Press the “Home” button on the Sky voice remote.
- Scroll down to the “Settings” and select “Privacy”.
- Then, highlight “Voice mics” and then press “OK”.
Hands-Free Voice Control Not Activating?
If by any chance you can’t locate the “Hands-Free Voice Control” menu or activate the “Voice mics” feature, reboot the Sky Glass and try again.
In addition, the voice assistant requires the latest Sky Glass firmware version to operate correctly.
Tip: Check how to force a firmware update on the Sky Glass in solution #5!
2. Power-Reset the Sky Glass/Remote
Conducting a power cycle to address non-lasting issues with the Sky voice remote or the TV device is recommended.
This reset type will not target sensitive information on the device but only discharge the electricity from the hardware and refresh all operational services.
Let’s start with a power reset on the Sky Glass TV!
How to Power Reset Sky Glass TV?
- Press the “power” button on the remote to turn off the TV.
- Disconnect the power cable of the Sky Glass from power.
- Wait for 60 seconds until the Sky Glass TV is discharging.
- Reconnect the power cable of the TV back into the outlet.
How to Power Reset Sky Remote?
- Open the battery compartment of the Sky voice remote.
- After that, eject the batteries inside of the compartment.
- Then, hold the “power” button on the front of your remote.
- Reinsert the batteries and close the battery compartment.
How to Replace Remote Batteries?
To eliminate any underlying issues with the Sky Voice remote control, the next step is to replace the batteries inserted into the device.
The Sky voice remote control uses 2 x AAA batteries that must be inserted into the compartment, facing the correct electrical poles, lying on the springs!
Tip: To soft reset the remote, hold the power button for 30 seconds!
3. Pronounce the Voice Command Clearly
For the Sky voice remote to recognise your voice clearly, the command must be pronounced clearly and audibly.
Any background noises can confuse the remote and prevent the Sky Glass from recognising and executing the voice command.
Hold the “Voice” button on the Sky voice remote and say “Hello Sky”.
If the Sky Glass recognises the pronounced voice command, the voice assistant icon will appear on the TV display.
Therefore, the TV is actively recognising your voice, and you can input the following command of your will that could involve an action for execution.
Reduce the Background Noises!
For the voice remote to understand the voice command entirely, there mustn’t be background noises interfering with the pronounced command.
Thus, reduce all high-pitch background noises or broadcasts confusing the Voice Guidance feature.
Note: If the voice assistant doesn’t appear after saying “Hello Sky”, the remote isn’t working!
4. Switch the Broadband Router ON/OFF
A recommended solution by Sky is to switch the broadband router ON/OFF whenever the Voice Guidance feature isn’t working correctly.
The voice setting’ sole requirement is a stable Wi-Fi connection for the persistent pairing between the voice remote and Sky Glass.
Here’s how to reset the power of the broadband router in your setup:
- Check if there’s a power button on either of the panels on the router.
- Hold the “power” button for 5-10 seconds to turn off the network device.
- Disconnect the power cable from the back of the router and the outlet.
- Wait for 60 seconds until the network router has discharged completely.
- Reattach the power cable of your router directly to the electrical outlet.
It’s crucial to remember that the router’s system may take 1-2 minutes to re-launch after conducting the power reset.
Hence, the Sky Glass will not have a Wi-Fi connection unless connected to a different Wi-Fi before all services of the broadband router are back online.
Note: If the router is shutting down or rebooting, check if the power supply is stable!
5. Force a Sky Glass Firmware Update
Since Sky Glass typically receives firmware updates automatically as long as it is connected to Wi-Fi, there’s a workaround to force a pending software update.
You must verify that the Sky Glass is connected to Wi-Fi and wait until the device enters the Standby Mode.
How to Check if Sky Glass is Connected to Wi-Fi?
- Press the “Home” button on the Sky Glass voice remote.
- Choose “Network” and keep pressing the “right” button.
- Wait for the network list to initialise all available Wi-Fi.
- Highlight and select the network of your broadband router.
- Input the Wi-Fi password and press the “Connect” button.
How to Activate Standby Mode on Sky Glass?
The Sky Glass will only go into “Standby” if there isn’t any movement or interaction with the TV for an hour.
Hence, turn on the Sky Glass and don’t press any buttons on the remote for one hour, and if there’s a pending software update, it should start automatically.
Note: Pressing any TV or remote button will cancel the Standby Mode!
6. Restore the Sky Glass Factory Settings!
If the voice control on Sky Glass not working, then you must conduct a factory reset on the Sky Glass.
This process will erase all stored information from the Sky Glass, including misconfigured settings and glitched applications preventing the voice feature from working and hopefully help!
The information erased from the Sky Glass factory reset cannot be returned!
Follow these instructions to perform a factory reset on the Sky Glass:
- Navigate to the homepage of your Sky Glass.
- Scroll down and highlight “Settings”.
- Press the “OK” button on the remote control.
- After that, navigate to “System Management”.
- Scroll to “Resets & Update” by pressing down.
- Press “OK” after highlighting “Factory Reset”.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to complete.
Note: Once the factory reset is finished, complete the initial setup from scratch and connect the Sky Glass TV to the WiFi.
Quick Recap:
To fix whenever the Sky Glass voice control not working, check if the Wi-Fi connection is stable and force a firmware update on the Sky Glass.
If the Sky Glass voice remote is still not working, power reset the remote control and restore the factory settings of your TV.
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Finn Wheatley holds a Master’s Degree in Computer Science from UCL, London. He helped small data science consultancy firms, helping large corporations to grow their data capabilities, deploy advanced machine learning-based analytics and troubleshoot tech-related issues. Check out more about him here.