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GoogleNestTeam
Community Manager (Admin)
Community Manager (Admin)

Nest Community Members, 

Since launch, many of our long-time Nest customers have provided valuable feedback on our new Nest Cam (battery) and Nest Doorbell (battery) devices -- particularly on the transition to the Google Home app experience. We hear you, and we’re taking your feedback to heart. In this post, I want to share more about our commitments to you going forward. 

 

The transition to the Google Home app

Our new cameras, including the upcoming Nest Cam (indoor, wired) and Nest Cam with floodlight, were made specifically for the Google Home app. Unlike the Nest app, the Google Home app was built to accommodate both battery and wired products, event-based and 24/7 continuous video history, while giving you a whole home view and history of your camera and doorbell feeds across all Nest cameras. You can check out the recent Nest Community blog if you want to read more on Nest cameras and the Home app. 

We chose to transition to the Home app because this app is designed for the future of the smart home — a single place to set up, manage, automate, and control your home. Today, most home devices are controlled across multiple apps, but we’re working on making the Google Home app the central controller across all your home devices, including Google devices and devices from 1,000s of other brands. We continue to make major improvements to the Home app to support this future. 

That being said, this means that existing Nest households with cameras and doorbells prior to Nest Cam (battery) and Nest Doorbell (battery) may have a two app experience. We know this can be frustrating, and we are committed to bringing the experiences and Nest devices you have come to love in the Nest app into the Home app. This will take time to get right, and we will continue to share more details as we have updates.

We are listening to your feedback and will continue to make improvements to advance the camera experience in the Home app. For example, we’ll soon introduce the ability to flip between events quickly and easily, which is helpful for events that are far apart, or if you only want a glimpse of the events versus playing them back fully. And we’ve also been working on rolling out a desktop experience for the Google Home app, so the new Nest cameras and doorbell feeds can be viewed and controlled from there. This will launch in 2022. 

 

Other updates

We also heard feedback from many on the multi-pack cameras only offering a single charging cable. We recognize that this doesn't work for all users, so we are offering a free additional cable(s) to customers who purchased the two-pack or three-pack. Just contact our support team.

Finally, we commit to being more transparent with you on where we are taking the camera portfolio. We know that those with wired doorbell connections prefer to have a doorbell that can also support 24/7 continuous video history (via the Nest Aware subscription). We are excited to share that we will be launching a 2nd generation of Nest Doorbell (wired) in 2022. 

 

Hopefully this post gives you more context on where we’re heading together, and we’ll share our upcoming plans here on the Nest Community. I encourage you to share your feedback with us as we continually improve our products and experiences.

-rishi

 

Rishi Chandra

GM/VP of Google Nest

411 Comments
Notorious
Community Member

Hopeless muppets

* killed fine company

* discontinued best cameras on the market and replaced with cheap rubbish

* can’t develop a decent app

And this lasts for months and years. How Larry and Sergey tolerate this??

I find this fascinating

tdfischer
Community Member

Yep, with all the wonderful, positive, glowing feedback in this forum about the decision to not integrate new “Nest” products into the “Nest” App - crickets from the @GoogleNestTeam, thanks for nothing!

St1
Community Member

Returning my battery now this truly sucks I have close to 20 cameras and many smoke detectors I am so disappointed by this 

IDragn
Community Member

@GoogleNestTeam I declare shenanigans
Can't stream the new Nest camera's to a Chromecast or Computer... sure a bit of a headache if we have to use 2 different apps/sites to see the old/new cameras for a bit while y'all integrate everything.  but streaming to Chromecast/computer is basic functionality that when missing renders these just a hair above useless.  How can you call this a finished product when its missing this? at least it streams to a Home Hub... but buying a couple more is not a solution.  Y'all should be handing those out like free candy until you fix this.

How the F did anyone think this would be acceptable?  These limitations need to be listed under the product description, otherwise its false advertising as people lead to believe that these will have the same functionality as previous products.

urlybird
Community Member

I have had a Nest Cam IQ Outdoor since they first came out, it has been great.

I was excited to recently add two of the new Nest Wires Indoir cameras but was very disapointed to find out that the saved videos do not have a tdate/timestamp making them unacceptavble for submission to Police/Courts.

My neighbor is a meth addict who has been charged/convicted of 30+ crime. Because of COVID he is serving his jail time at home.

Having "security" video without a date/timestamp isuseless. I tried to return my cameras but it was after 15 days so I was refused. I am done with the Nest family as a result.

 

boatdude
Community Member

I want my money back!!!  I would NEVER have purchased your new Battery NEST Cam had i known it would not work with the NEST App.  REALLY crappy of you to not make this clear in advertising and packaging.  If you brand it NEST Cam and don't disclose, we have a right to assume it will have same history and app functionality, that is basically false advertising.  I am frankly disgusted with Google at this point.  I already switched my voice control to Alexa as the integrations are FAR superior to Google Home.  If you don't want to be in this business, you are headed the right way.  smh 

SistaBunifa
Community Member

I know that you're not actually an idiot....so why do you behave like one in how you chart the direction of development and integration for the Nest/Home ecosystem? Seriously, why does it take you years and not quarters to accomplish anything? It seems as if Sundar is protecting your job through some perverse form of racial nepotism. 

board_13
Community Member

Wow am I glad I found this thread - over $500 of new "Nest" items in my cart to expand our existing setup to our new investment property and I will not be clicking order. As a long-time Nest customer I understand that transitioning causes challenges... but this just seems like a complete cluster. Rarely are you thankful that you have the gen 1 version of tech that you can still use instead of "having" to upgrade. I hope you guys get some current Nest customer consumer groups together and get this figured out.

pslawing
Community Member

I’m sure those of us who have multiple cameras in the nest app are very upset!  I was going to purchase 2 more but due to the issue of not being able to connect to nest app I am slowly replacing my cameras to another brand.  This is AWFUL!  The google app is so bad compared to others.  We are paying for an account that won’t even let us see 24/7 in the google app.  It is so cumbersome,  you are rapidly loosing customers. You don’t deserve to use the Nest name

TarkMalbot
Community Member

When working offshore I used Nest to be able to check my cameras from various workstations. It seems this is no longer possible with the Google Home app so my new cameras (battery) I can no longer check whilst away working from home. Unless this changes so I can log into a website based system the cameras are useless for me.

kconn68
Community Member

I am continuing to buy the old Nest IQ indoor cameras and the outdoor one that is not an IQ because they stupidly stopped making the Nest Cam IQ Outdoor. What FOOLS !!! Those cameras are awesome.I need 24 hour protection due to a serial stalker...A BATTERY POWERED CAMERA and a silly camera that picks up events only is not for someone that has serious security issues. I felt safe very safe with my  Nest Cams running 24/7 picking up every little nuance on my property.  I will not be buying these new connected home devices. My thermostat or Alexa cannot help me when someone in a mask is breaking into my house. Google you better learn  more about security issues before you get into the security  business. It is a dangerous world out there...and you have taken away my peace of mind......this Google garbage you are selling...at lower prices? Who cares !!! I want security not pretty colors and bargains.  So disgusted with this whole child like transition...why did you get rid of a superior security camera. Why? 

pslawing
Community Member

this says it all!  Google Look! Which app would you like to use!

 

477C6BF9-C037-40DF-B8C3-1D94F6B6F521.jpeg

pslawing
Community Member

F9CFA5FA-DE50-4C81-BFDA-C92C165CDADE.jpeg

flug
Community Member

Yeah, this sucks. I just bought a new Nest Camera Floodlight and I see that I now have to use two apps. I'm out, not happening and not useful to get notifications in two spots. I wanted a seamless experience and Google screwed it up. 

pslawing
Community Member

@flug @You should return the camera. Maybe if everyone returns them they will get the message

flug
Community Member

@pslawing I am going to, what a ridiculous way of handling things. Completely screwing up what Nest advocates love about buying into the ecosphere, everything connected. "Yeah, yeah, we're going to make something that incorporates everything you were using elsewhere but until then you use two apps". 

urlybird
Community Member

I bought two Nest Wired Cameras  Ocytober 08th.

 

Once I found there was no date/tine stamp and all the restrictions that come with Google Home I tried to return both cameras on Nov 12th but was told no exceptions,

I was over the 15 day return period.

Selling all my Nest Products on Kijii at 50% of new.

 

flug
Community Member

Here is what I would suggest. Since we can only return our own, that is not going to make a huge difference to Google, but go ahead and leave (accurate) reviews on the change and what it is doing to the Nest ecosystem so that those reading it will opt for something else instead of going down the rabbit hole we all went down. Post reviews for every product you purchased on every site you can. 

jn12345
Community Member

The user experience is a big fail. Having to use 2 apps for end users who have multiple cameras. Our IQ camera - 2 years old are crapping out one by one and this new camera is not adequate if we cannot get a public/private link to the video recordings. 

Google should buy back all the nest cameras that are failing left and right if they do not have a good solution. There is no transparency here even with the above note. 

Provide a workable solution! 

urlybird
Community Member

I noticed not one person has posted a positive review - there is a message there.

flug
Community Member

@urlybird oh no, I've seen a ton of only positive reviews on online stores...but they are all from people that Google sent free ones too so they would have positive reviews. I've posted some more accurate reviews. 

MplsCustomer
Bronze
Bronze

The reviews of the new Google Nest Camera with Floodlight on the sites listed on the previous post are peculiar.

On the Target, Kohl's, Home Depot, and Bed, Bath and Beyond sites, almost all of the reviews are flagged with the phrase "[This review was collected as part of a promotion.]" and are sometimes flagged with the Google icon and noted as having been "Originally posted on Google LLC".  Some of these "promotion" reviews are exactly the same on the different sites.

VermontProperty
Community Member

@MplsCustomer I posted a bad review of my new Nest Floodlight cam on Bestbuy.com. Within minutes, "someone" posted another review (not a response to my review, but a completely new review) ... and it was an unusually in-depth 5-star positive review highlighting each "positive feature" of the product and the writer sounded EXACTLY like they were a salesperson trying to sell a product not a consumer reviewing what they just bought.... and I'm pretty sure that was a fake review written by someone paid by Google to counter negative reviews of their products. The timing and how fake it sounded was too much of a coincidence. Google is as corrupt a corporation as they come. And everyone knows the new Nest cams and Home app suck... regardless of how many fake positive reviews Google pays to have posted!!

 

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/reviews/google-nest-cam-with-floodlight-snow/6473270?variant=A&rating=1

flug
Community Member

@MplsCustomer that's because they sent a bunch of free products to people to get positive reviews and then had these retailers bring in a feed. But notice they won't allow you to review the products in their own store. This is why I said they need some more accurate and honest reviews out there. That will make them take notice because that affects current and future sales. 

Cliffy
Community Member

This is total bull**bleep**. The google home app sucks. Plain and simple. When I purchase a nest product I expect it to work with the nest app and subsequently the nest website. Just purchased well over $500 in cameras and without basic abilities to view them in a browser, I am left wanting to return all these products and find a better alternative. Google has the ability to make this happen, they just decided that their customers we dumb enough to grin and beat it. Not this one. 

Wfearley
Community Member

I bought the new battery cam. It is connected to power using their cable. It got to 27 degrees in Boston. The cam stopped charging and went to 0% battery and it has not recorded in 4 days.
It warmed up to 44 degrees.  The camera now says 100 battery.  The message says REMOUNT CAMERA TO SEE LIVE VIDEO. it says camera OFF.  REMOUNT?   We are 2000 miles away from the camera.  We see NOTHING.  What does Google/Nest mean REMOUNT the camera?  IT KNOWS THE CAMER IS NOW AT 100% but does not have the ability to turn on?  REALLY?

Who designed this piece of junk?

What a ripoff. I also have 5 wired cams. They were reliable.  These battery units are TERRIBLE and USELESS.

flug
Community Member

@Cliffy yep, and they respond to my reviews with the "We are doing this because we care and want everything integrated" bull**bleep** - but they respond because they don't like having the accurate reviews out there alongside their free product reviews. Let them know what you think on the product pages I listed above. 

MplsCustomer
Bronze
Bronze

@Wfearley 

We have the new Google Nest Camera Battery, connected with the optional 10-meter power cable that we also purchased from Google, and it's already gotten down to 15 degrees in Minnesota. With the optional power cable (NOT the short charging cable that comes with the camera), the battery always displays with the words "Plugged in" and showing an infinity symbol and does NOT show as charging.

eisenb11
Community Member

@MplsCustomer

That’s normal. It’s showing infinity because it’s running off ac power instead of the battery. My floodlight cam shows the same thing in California. 

Wfearley
Community Member

my new battery cam changed to OFF

the solution is to REMOUNT THE CAM

 

how do you do this when you are 2000miles from home?

 

 

Wfearley
Community Member

It’s 100@ charged.  Needs to remounted to get it to work again?It’s 100@ charged. Needs to remounted to get it to work again?

MplsCustomer
Bronze
Bronze

@Wfearley 

I'm just another Google Nest customer and can only report I haven't encountered this on our battery camera connected with the optional 10-meter power cable. As @eisenb11  noted above, our camera is always running on A/C power and so never shows as charging. From other posts I've seen, there is either a problem when trying to continually power the camera using the short charging cable that comes with the camera or there is some design flaw when continually powering the camera that we just haven't (yet) encountered on our camera.  (I can't find anything on whether there is a technical difference between the short charging cable and the longer optional power cables.)  I also saw another message thread on this forum claiming this "mounting" message is because your camera is detached from its magnetic mount; I have no idea whether this is true or not.

I know none of this helps you because you're not close to your camera. I hate to suggest this slow and cumbersome choice (and they may tell you that you have to physically access your camera), but you might have to resort to contacting Google Nest Support by going to https://support.google.com/googlenest/gethelp?hl=en or by going into your camera and selecting Settings | More [...] | Help | Contact us.

Maybe other customers monitoring this thread have a better suggestion for the circumstance you're in--a circumstance that really should not be happening.  Maybe (but not likely) someone from Google Nest Support will see your post here and respond.

Wfearley
Community Member

MplsCustomer

 

thank you for your comment. 
I have a redundant (ARLO) camera in the same location as the New Nest battery cam.
I can see that the new cm is attached to the magnetic base.

‘I am using to meter cable to continually power the camera.

Recent temperatures have been just below freezing.  The message was that the camera had 0% battery life.  It warmed up and the battery went to 100%.  After it got to 100% the message came up to REMOUNT THE CAMERA.  Using the NEST APP it was easy to turn the camera on and off.  The HOME APP just tells you the cam is OFF but 100% charged.

it must be another flaw in the HOME APP.

eisenb11
Community Member

@Wfearley 

recommend you contact tech support. Camera maybe fried. Bad news is they’ll probably tell you to reset the camera which requires pushing a tiny button on the back of it like they did to me. I’m annoyed because my camera is high up and needs a tall ladder to get to. Can’t believe there is no software option to power cycle it.  Yours is 2000 miles away which is worse. 

MplsCustomer
Bronze
Bronze

@Wfearley 

There is a review on the Best Buy site from 4 days ago from someone in the Chicago area whose battery on their new Google Nest Battery Camera--with the 10-meter weatherproof power cable--went to a 0% charge in 25-degree weather. Google Nest Support--at the supervisor level--literally told them the battery had drained due to the cold 25-degree (above zero) weather and they should take down their outdoor camera and bring it inside to charge! If the camera is running on A/C power, why should the battery drain at all unless there's a power outage?

Another post reports they discovered their new camera, with the power cable, was running on battery power until they replaced the cable.

boatdude
Community Member

I returned and ordered an older Outdoor Nest Cam.  The battery version is stupid.  A magnetically mounted security camera needs to be mounted out of reach.  Meaning you have to climb a ladder to access it for charging no matter how cold, wet, or icy it may be outside and you are without a camera while charging.  Unbelievably stupid.

boatdude
Community Member

I hope they notice there is not a single post here who thinks the change from the Nest app is a good thing.  But knowing Google, they are sure they know better than their customers what their customers need.🤐

Tenkely
Community Member

I understand the need to consolidate these Google Nest services into one app... And I would really prefer to just use the Home app for everything, but it's not ready. Not at all. Too many missing features from the Nest app and a lack of support for Workspace accounts.

Amaximov1
Community Member

Wish I saw this before buying 2021 cameras. Should have not branded them as a Nest product as none of the features that a Nest user would expect are there. Going to return them and buy older cameras. 

 

EDIT: I was well aware they wouldn't work with the orig nest app, I am returning them because based on the description my expectation was that the alternative Google Home App,  would have the same features, which it does not. 

Wfearley
Community Member

Where are the positive comments?

I have been trying to get the problems with my battery cam fixed with Cathleen in GOOGLE support for a month and a half.  She says she is a supervisor.  She says she is working with GOOGLE engineers.  Cathleen operates with the attitude that we got your money, much appreciated…..good luck with the inferior battery cam we sold you.  Not a NEST product.  Just something bundled as a GOOGLE product that does not work!  GOOGLE took the money and ran!

flug
Community Member

@Amaximov1 Make sure you leave them adequate reviews, that will help them reevaluate more than forum complaints do. 

bob
Community Member

A community member writes - "Wish I saw this before buying 2021 cameras. Should have not branded them as a Nest product as none of the features that a Nest user would expect are there. Going to return them and buy older cameras. "

This is precisely why a CLASS-ACTION LAWSUIT is in order. Google has committed fraud and should be made to return Nest to its original owners and compensate every one of us who bought "Nest" cameras based on prior experience with the original Nest app that was fantastic. Google has **bleep** all over the usability of this app and has also **bleep** all over its customers who shelled out $179 for their substandard cameras to be used on an app that is gee whiz for 1994 but has absolutely NO PLACE IN 2021. 

Punitive damages, compensation, and an order to return the cameras and app to their previous state of usability is what we need to sue for AS A MINIMUM. 

**bleep** GOOGLE. Stick with email. It's the only thing you do well.

bob
Community Member

@flug -

I only have a Best Buy account but I hit that. Thanks.

JNelly
Community Member

Haven't even received my new outdoor camera to go with my 3 existing nest cameras and I'm going to be returning.  Had no clue you morons eliminated the ability to add to the Nest app.  What an absolute JOKE! I'm tempted to sell my 3 cameras and move on to another more capable and better ran camera company.  Shove your new Google Home app where the sun doesn't shine.  Morons

Amaximov1
Community Member

My biggest concern now is, should I keep investing into the older cameras as they do exactly what I want them to do, or should I move to a different platform because Google will kill support for the Nest app and all the older products?

rleikis
Community Member

I very much understand the need to migrate to one software solution but all of the Nest app features should have been brought over prior to launching to hardware branded as Nest.  On the whole, this Nest product line is subpar for any credible security events.  Here is my list.  

  • The organization of the Home app is subpar and does not allow quick response to security events.  All devices and sensors in a single list should not be the default, all controllable devices should be the default.  No direct navigation to event history is provided.
  • Tapping event notifications does not reliably take you directly to the event.
  • Zone alerts do not work correctly at times.  Disabling all out-of-zone alerts still results in notifications.
  • On the floodlight, cannot configure the IR detection beyond three basic sensitivity levels control.  Cannot configure what happens on detection beyond on/off, e.g. brightness change.
  • Virtually a complete lack of any capture control to respond to and archive events.  Periodic snapshot, timelapse, etc.
  • No way that I can find to respond to events other than just viewing the event and accessing the camera as normal.  Cannot tie into alarm systems that are recognized by the Home app, respond with programmatic events, nothing.
  • A desktop app is needed for all users.
  • A desktop multi-camera console is needed for advanced users, even if only available with a service, e.g. NestAware.
urlybird
Community Member

Does anyone know how Home/Away settings work when you have two cameras controlled by Google Home app and two cameras controlled by Nest app ?

My new Google Home cameras seem to randomly turn off.

https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/9246474?hl=en

Wfearley
Community Member

Hello Urlybird

 

thats the million dollar question.

‘I have 4 old cams and one new battery cam

my new battery cam randomly turned off while we are away for 4 weeks.

Cathleen in GOOGLE support does not know why

Her engineers don’t know why.

unlike the old cams in the NEST APP….it is impossible to turn the camera back on.

cathleen says she needs to talk on the telephone……this after I gave her access to my system.

GOOGLE……they gang that can’t shoot straight.