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Are we wasting our time with these comments about the new battery cams?

mdr2
Community Member

Does anyone think the Google Nest Battery Cam design team is actually reading these comments we are reporting about the significant limitations of the new 'battery' cams? And are they doing anything about it?  Or are we wasting our time?

The only official response I have seen from Google has been "we are aware and some updates are planned for 2022".

 

6 REPLIES 6

JasonInRva
Community Member

Google definitely seems to be taking the "least viable product" approach to their Nest ecosystem. This means:

1) The Nest App is dead. Don't look for any kind of backwards compatibility with future products, because...

2) Google has deemed the Google Home app "viable" for customers.

3) Viability is in the eye of the beholder. Although the Google Home app presumably meets some minimal set of requirements from a developer's perspective, it is fairly abysmal to the end users.

4) This gulf between how a developer sees a product versus how a customer sees a product is wide and widely-seen in the industry.

5) Google knows they have a captive audience. Few of us with thousands of dollars invested in the Nest ecosystem are going to jump ship at this point.

6) All of this to mean there will be a gradual improvement to the Google Home app and its functionality with new and legacy Nest gear. But it will be years before it reaches parity with the legacy Nest app, and in all likelihood, parity will never be achieved.

7) Bonus: the advertisements I'm seeing in the Google Home app, for a product that I've spent thousands of dollars on, as well as a recurring subscription fee, is the cherry on top of this whole sh!t sandwich. 

I agree about point 5 - once you've invested in a product (even how small) it's had to jump ship to a competitor even if they produce a better product for cheaper. In my case, even though I have a few Google products like the Home Hubs and Nest doorbell, all my smart home tech is Lightwave (with Gosund Wifi plugs controlling some other things like rebooting the Lightwave Hub daily for additional reliability). To have Nest or Hive products would require additional connection hubs. At least the competing technologies all can be accessed in the Home Hub. Additionally, the CCTV in my house are all linked to a DVR which is set up to save 2 weeks worth of footage and can be viewed online (the issue of DDNS is solved by use of an Amahi server and it's ability to "call home" with the current IP address, and it's ability to bypass the Virgin Media DNS built into their router by choosing your own!), and I am loathed to get a Nest Aware subscription. It really should be part of the 1 subscription.

MrVacca
Silver Product Expert
Silver Product Expert

I honestly don't think the design team checks this form.  The best way to leave your ideas/suggestions is through the feedback feature directly in the Google Home app.  I've been told in other Google product communities that this is the best method to let the team know of all these issues through there.

I have done that, and those messages seem to go into the netherworld never to be seen again.  There should be a way to get actual feedback from Google, not just silence.

mdr2
Community Member

Hi MrVacca, The feedback feature in the app appears to be more for simple questions about the app and how to do something.  The information here that people are typing is very valuable and the design team REALLY needs to be reading this stuff.  Are you connected with the design team?  This is very important that you get them to just spend an hour reading thru all these treads.   

MrVacca, better to post major disappointments about the Nest Cam (Battery) on these public forums.  Hopefully it can inform other potential buyers BEFORE they decide to purchase this product.