I need both the NEST and HOME apps to manage my Video Cameras?

[JSicking84]

I have a Nest Doorbell Camera and Nest Outdoor (wired) IQ Camera which I've always viewed through the NEST App and I've always been happy with the quality and user interface of the devices and the App itself. Recently I purchased a new Nest Indoor Camera to add to my growing Google ecosystem, however when I went to add it I was directed to the Google HOME App to do so. It seems that I've purchased a 2nd Generation NEST Camera which is not compatible with the NEST app, which was not really very clear at the time of making the purchase or based on the naming convention alone (I can't use my NEST Camera with the NEST App? Weird.) 

So I decided to checkout the new Camera in the HOME app, which I already utilize to monitor my NEST Wifi Network, and I was pleased to see I still had a feed of events and the option to save clips. However, when I attempted to view my Older Doorbell and Outdoor cameras via the app, the interface was completely different....

No History of Events to scroll through, no ability to directly save clips to Nest Aware (that I can find at least) and an extremely buggy and lagged out experience (the app crashed twice when just trying to view a live feed). 

I'm certainly not against using a new app and I'm all for consolidation of Apps into a single, umbrella experience, but I can't help but feel like this is a step BACKWARD for the devices I've already purchased and used. It seems like my options are to keep TWO apps on my phone to monitor the different Generations of cameras, or just upgrade a to new devices. But if Google is going to provide such poor backwards compatibility, why would I choose to invest in more of their hardware? What's stopping them from switching things up when Gen3 comes around, faithful customers who've already invested into their hardware can be ignored. This is pretty frustrating so far.

[EmptyNester]

Hi JSicking84,  you are just discovered what 100's (probably 1000's) of people have been talking about on this forum for over a year  now as we patiently wait for Google to move the functions of the NEST app over to the Google Home app.  For me when I saw that (2) apps were required I returned the new camera and purchased used GEN 1 Cameras from people on ebay and it has worked out  fine.  I'm more than happy to stay in the NEST app until such time that there is a compelling reason to move to the new cams and the Google Home app.

[EmersonB]

Hello folks,

@JSicking84, thanks for reaching out here in the Community. I understand that other features of the Nest app are not available in the Google Home app. We appreciate your interest however, we don't have any news to share about applying those features to the Google Home app. We're always looking for ways to improve and we'll take it as feedback. I'd suggest you send feedback about your concern using this link to let the Google Engineering team know about your concern. While they won't respond directly back to you, this is the best way to let them know about this. 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, EmptyNester.

Best,
Emerson

[JSicking84]

I guess that's my fault for not doing enough research ahead of time, but shame on me for thinking that a camera called a NEST camera would continue to work in my NEST app just fine, or that Google would have enough foresight and planning to make the HOME app good enough to support all the NEST features for Gen 1 Cameras in the new App before forcing such a confusing, disjointed user experience. Definitely gives me pause as I continue to figure out which ecosystem best suites my Home Security, Network and Automation needs. I thought it was a no brainer with Google, guess I was wrong.

[EmersonB]

Hello JSicking84,

We appreciate you getting back to us. We know where you're coming from and this is not the experience we want you to have. We hope we can make it up to you in the future. Let us know if you have more questions in mind.

Best,

Emerson

[EmptyNester]

@EmersonB , Hello,  I don't mean to be a smart mouth but the users have been waiting for OVER 2 YEARS for this and we still only see a trickle of functions from the Nest App migrating over to the Google Home app  every 6 months or so.   I for one am loosing confidence that the Google App (when it comes to cameras) will ever be as good as the Nest App.  

[Lance_L]

Hi everyone,

We hear you  —  Our long-term plan is to use the Google Home app as the one place where you can control your Nest and other smart home devices.

We are working on enabling the ability to set up and control older Nest cameras in the Home app, so users will have one app to control all of their devices.

We don't have anything else to share right now, but stay tuned for more news and updates. We appreciate your patience.

Let me know if you have other questions or concerns; otherwise, I’ll be locking this thread after 24 hours.

Thanks for chiming in, EmptyNester and Emerson.

Cheers,

Lance