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The Android TV-powered TiVo Stream 4K is now reportedly throwing up Google Security Alerts, resulting in a broken Nest smart home ecosystem for some. Confirmed by Google, the security alert itself is fairly standard and claims that the device is risky. More succinctly, it presents the devices — identified as SEI Robotics TV — as being a risk to user data. But the alert is an error, rather than valid.
Google says that it’s aware of the problem and TiVo is said to have claimed that it’s simply a UI error. That’s as opposed to a real problem. Google says that it is the result of a bug that triggers the notification. But it is not a security issue and neither is casting to TiVo’s device. The devices aren’t, it confirms, putting user data at risk. The company is actively working on a fix.
But this TiVo Stream 4K bug is breaking Nest smart home ecosystems too
Google does allude to a deeper problem from the bug, however. As Google puts it, users should not remove access for the TiVo-branded devices. If they do, it will “limit functionality” of their device. But that problem and others have also been widely reported. Summarily, removing access does not appear to only impact TiVo’s device.
In fact, some reports indicate that removing access via the alerts will not only affect the TiVo Stream 4K. It has also allegedly broken down other connections with smart home products. Among those are some Nest devices, produced and sold by Google. It’s not immediately clear whether removing access to other gadgets will have a similar result. But that seems to indicate that the bug is deeper than is being let on.
A fix is on the way
As noted above, Google has already acknowledged that it is working on a fix. For some users, the fix has already reportedly arrived too. There’s no timeline explicitly given for when the rollout will be finalized. But users shouldn’t have to wait for too long before the situation is resolved. In the interim, users should ignore the security risk alert mentioned here to prevent further smart home-related errors.