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Multiple Issues with New Nest Cam

rxm108
Community Member

I've been a NestCam and Nest Doorbell user for many years between two different homes, and have recommended the products often for ease and simplicity many times.  Unfortunately with the new Google Nest Cam Outdoor/Indoor Battery model I am beyond frustrated.

Our family has been using the Nest app on iPhone and Android devices for many years, and we also the home.nest.com website to view video and control products.  Why?  We have 4 cameras and 3 doorbells between 2 homes and 4 thermostats.  While the Nest app is pretty good, viewing all this on a web page is far easier.

As it turns out, the new Nest cameras are no longer compatible with the Nest app or viewing on the webpage.  This is beyond infuriating, because I spent over an hour troubleshooting my "should have been simple" install only to find this little detail embedded in a forum post.  So... let's get this straight... the NEST branded camera does not work with the generally available and still fully supported NEST app that lets you view every other NEST product.  If this is Google's way of forcing customers to use the horrible Google Home app, someone should be seriously questioned on this strategy.

Now on to the Google Home app.  It is pure garbage.  Terrible user interface, responsiveness, and organization, but worst of all I cannot get any history to play for the new camera.  At all.  The blue wheel of death spins continuously for the new camera and no history is working.  To top it off, history isn't available for any of my other cameras and doorbells.  So, wait... am I now stuck between two apps?  View live all cameras/doorbells and possibly see history on one new camera, then go back into the old Nest app to see live and history for all other cameras and doorbells?  Please tell me this is an April Fools prank.  I want my money back!

9 REPLIES 9

helsabot
Community Member

I agree with your frustration on every item that you mentioned.  Also found out via Reddit and not Google that the doorbell is incompatible with either of my two hubs since they are a few years old.

brynnlazarus
Community Member

Unfortunately, I don't have an answer for you. I just want to say I can sympathize, and I seriously hope Google does something about this. I have 21 Nest cameras (6 are the newer model) and I just want to be able to view them on a tv screen in grid view in my office. They need to make the Google App available via the web just like the Nest website. I'm keeping my fingers crossed this will be rectified soon. I would hate to cancel my subscription with all my cameras and start over from scratch. 😒

Wow.  21 Nest Cameras is a serious investment.  I really hope someone at Google is reading through the various threads all commenting on this fundamental problem and makes things right.

I fortunately had an older Nest Cam IQ in the garage sitting idle, so once I finally realized the new cam had this severe deficiency I went and dusted it off and added it via the Nest app... in about 60 seconds.  What really sucks is that the new camera I purchased is more than 30 days old so I'm stuck with it and can't return it.  

MplsCustomer
Bronze
Bronze

@rxm108 

You make good points.

Judging from posts in this forum, it seems some of the new Google Nest Cameras (Battery) and/or their charging cords are defective. In addition, the new battery cameras seem to have various issues when running in battery mode.

We have one of the new battery cameras and are fortunate that it seems to be defect-free. And since we have it plugged in with the optional power cable, we are not seeing the issues others have reported.

Like everyone, however, we're now stuck with having to use two apps. And because it doesn't work with the Google Nest app or the home.nest.com website, the new battery camera lacks some key functionality available for our other Google Nest cameras and doorbells.

Google Nest's responses in this forum and in Nest brand responses on retailer websites for the last 5 months often seem to deflect and deny.

To add insult to injury, I even purchased the extra long power cable so I could put this camera out by our street entrance and I am seeing some of the odd things you mention now.  The camera knows it is plugged in and almost fully charged, and I will always have this camera plugged in.  No matter what settings I enable however it seems to just go into a "sleep mode" where it no longer is streaming and saving video/audio like all my other Nest cameras.  Is this normal?  When I go into the Home app it appears to "wake up" but even some of the past events that it captured can be seen on thumbnails but I get the blue wheel of death when trying to view any of them.  What a mess!

@rxm108 

Our Google Nest Camera (Battery), plugged in with the optional 10-meter power cable, is always "Live" in the Google Home app. It streams continually and the history is accessible. The battery started at 87% but has been at 100% since shortly after installing it in early September 2021, though we can't view the battery level unless we unplug it. If the camera is unplugged, it shows as "Idle" in the Google Home app and displays the battery level. And its live stream is accessible from our Nest Hubs.

Except for the fact that it doesn't work with the Google Nest app (and the functionality therefore lacking), this is what I expected and hoped for. (From my perspective, the battery adds no value at all. We bought it only because Google Nest quit selling the old Google Nest Outdoor Cameras.)

I don't know why you and others are encountering various problems.

From the posts I've seen, I wonder whether there are problems with the charging cords and power cables; some customers have had success getting their charging cord replaced. (By the way, the cord or cable has to feed towards the FRONT of the camera.) Or maybe there are problems with the plug that inserts into the bottom of the camera; it seems kind of flimsy. Months ago, a customer posted a photo showing that their plug that inserts into the bottom of the camera just fell apart. Or maybe there are defects in some cameras that affect charging or other functions.

Thanks for the update.  My cable connection seems solid, and I do have the correct orientation.  My issues seem to be more on the cloud-side as far as playback issues and maybe even on-camera settings that aren't being conveyed properly and set.  I'll keep messing around though and see if I can figure it out.

My core problem though still remains... a nasty "surprise" that you can't effectively co-mingle old and new Nest cameras through a common app / the Nest app.  I'm still just shocked that this is the case and hoping I can sell this thing somehow unless Google/Nest comes back ASAP to remedy this oversight.

Brad
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey folks,

 

Thanks for visiting the Community. Since this thread hasn't had activity in a while, we're going to close it to keep content fresh.

 

We hope you were able to get the help you need, but if you're still having trouble, please feel free to submit another post, and provide as many details as possible so that others can lend a hand. Hope this helps!

 

Best regards,

Brad.

Fkp642
Community Member

Man I wish I had learned about this before I bought my latest nest cam. I have loved their products so much that I’ve kept adding on - 3 cams, doorbell, 2 home hubs - and buying a 4th cam to realize it doesn’t work and the Google home app is absolute crap was so disappointing. I needed to add 3 more cams, but now I don’t think nest is the way I’ll be going and will probably end up looking for something more flexible and user friendly. It’s just so disappointing to take a great system and turn it to crap.