History for Nest app and Google Home app when cam offline

[TBCuthbert]

When my Nest cam is offline, I can access all of my cam history on Nest app but the Google Home app will not show any history.  Is this as designed or. Glitch?

it is critical to be able to see our history when offline. This is especially important if a cam is stolen. My Nest app will show my Nest cam our history while the Google Home app will not?

glitch or by design? 

[humbertogarcia]

Hi TBCuthbert,

Thank you for reaching out to the community! I understand your concern regarding the discrepancy between the Nest and Google Home apps when viewing camera history while your device is offline. I am happy to clarify why this occurs.

The difference in behavior is due to the distinct architectures of the two platforms:

• Nest App (Legacy): Uses a "Sightline" architecture designed for a continuous cloud-based timeline. Because this history is stored in the cloud, you can scroll back through your footage even if the camera is no longer communicating with the server.
• Google Home App: Utilizes a newer architecture focused on "Event-based" history. In some cases, if a camera is offline, the app may have difficulty initializing the video player because it cannot establish a live "handshake" with the device. While your footage is safely stored in the cloud (with an active Nest Aware subscription), the interface may not display the timeline as intuitively as the Nest app when the hardware is unreachable.

To help me investigate this further for your specific setup, could you please provide the following:

1. Camera Model: If you are unsure, you can identify yours using this guide: Technical specs for Google Nest cameras.
2. App Status: Are your Google Home and Nest apps currently up to date?
3. Subscription: Which Nest Aware subscription level are you currently using?

I look forward to your response and am happy to assist you further.

Regards,

Humberto

[TBCuthbert]

2025 outdoor cam on Google Home app

2016 outdoor cam on Nest app

60 day plan with 10 day 24/7

definitely current releases. 

[humbertogarcia]

Hi TBCuthbert,

Thank you for those details! Since you have a mixed setup (2016 vs. 2025 cameras), the difference you are seeing is down to how the two apps process data.

• Nest App (2016 Cam): Built to pull video directly from the cloud. It doesn’t need the camera to be online to show history.
• Google Home App (2025 Cam): Often tries to "handshake" with the physical camera before loading the timeline. If the camera is offline, this handshake fails, making the history hard to reach via the camera view.

To view your history while the 2025 camera is offline:

1. Use the Activity Tab: Instead of tapping the camera icon, tap Activity at the bottom of the Home app. This loads cloud clips directly.
2. Web Portal: Access home.google.com on a computer; it is much more robust for viewing 24/7 history from offline devices.

I hope this clarifies things! Let me know if those methods work for you.

Regards,

Humberto

[TBCuthbert]

Thanks this works.

as I have 60 day plan, are all events recorded or just the ones that I have currently active … I have 4 activity zones and I am only showing people events in one of 4 zones so s not to clutter my viewing, however, if an incident occurs, I want to be able to check history in all 4 events within 60 days. I can currently do this on my olde Nest cam in Nest app.

if new outdoor cam is storing all events whether I am showing them in feed or not, this is a reasonable work around.  I would prefer the option of having my 60 days of history like on my Mest app cams. … but his may be adequate.

a major issue has been that your algorithms currently miss what it seems are 1000s of current events … so I am having to keep my older Nest cams in Nest app and also use Wyze cams which store locally on micro sd storage.  So I have history if required .. 

[MplsCustomer]

Being able to access video history from a security camera only when the camera is online seems like a fatal flaw.