Free subscription limits, 3 hours: what does it means exactly?

[natopigro]

What does "you can get up to 3 hours of event video history without a subscription" mean exactly?

I thought that it means that I can store recorderd events for a total duration of 3 hours. Hence, for instance, if every single alert events has a duration of, let say, 1 minute, I can access to 60*3 in the past that are stored in the cloud for free.

Instead not, as far I've exeprienced. That phrase means that the event history is kept for events that are up to 3 hours ago. This means that if a thief enters my house at 2 a.m., when I wake up at 8 a.m. I will not have any record of the events of him burglarizing my house. Can you confirm that this is actually the case?

Furthermore, considering that it is not possible to save the recording locally, there is no way to deal with this eventuality except by paying for the subscription service.

If this were the case, it seems to me somewhat useless and the sentence I quoted at the beginning is at least ambiguous.

[RXShorty]

Hi @natopigro

It is up to 3 hours of recorded footage.
So this should be fine. 😊

You can also download the clips to your mobile phone by using the Google Home App and Save the Clip.

[natopigro]

Well, I do not think so... If I open the history there isn't any event in the previous dayes event if I'm sure something has been recorded (and I received the alert).

Considering my usecase decribed above, how can I save the clips if they have been deleted after 3 hours?

[RXShorty]

Hi @natopigro

Hmm ok just noticed the wording on THIS support page:

If you want to go back and review past activity your camera or doorbell has detected, you can do so in the app. Some cameras offer up to 3 hours of event video history, while others offer up to 3 hours of still image snapshots instead.

So it could be it is just 3 hours of time passed depending on the camera. 🙄
You are only able to save clips that are visible within the app. 🙂

[natopigro]

I've bought the camera about one week ago from the google official store. How could I know which kind of camera was that before buying it?

For the moment and for my purposes is it completely useless.

Does anyone think google should have specified this feature better?

[Brad]

Hi there,

Thank you for helping out on this thread, @RXShorty and @MplsCustomer.

Just checking in on the conversation and seeing how it's going. Please let me know if you need assistance.

Best regards,

Brad

[MplsCustomer]

Google Nest's newer cameras and doorbells released starting later in 2021 provide free event video history for events that occurred during the previous 3 hours only. So if it is 6:00 pm, you can only see events since 3:00 pm that same day.

Ever since the cameras were initially released, the wording that Google Nest uses to describe this free history has been a cause of confusion, giving customers the mistaken impression they get up to 3 hours (180 minutes) of recorded events. You do NOT get that much history. If only one 2-minute event has been detected and recorded during the previous 3 hours, you will see ONLY that one 2-minute event without a Nest Aware subscription.

Respectfully, Google Nest should make this clear in their marketing and support documentation.

[natopigro]

Thank you very much for your clear answer and for confirming that the google description is unambiguous only to me.
Now I'm in the unfortunate situation that I have a cam that can't record locally like many others (on shceda sd) and that doesn't record effectively to the cloud unless paid.

I wish this place would at least help someone else not make the same mistake as me.

Negative note for google, usually so attentive to its customers.

[Brad]

@natopigro

We’re always looking for ways to improve, and appreciate your feedback. You can send it at any time using your devices by saying, "Hey Google, send feedback," or by following the steps found here. Please let me know if you still need further assistance. 

Best regards,
Brad

[EmersonB]

Hi everyone,

@natopigro that's a cool and interesting feature. Don't forget to share your feedback from the link that Brad shared. Please let me know if you have other questions or concerns as I will be locking this after 24 hours. Feel free to start a new thread and we'll be happy to help.

I appreciate the help, RXShorty, MplsCustomer and Brad.

Thanks,
Emerson