Nest Cam Outdoor records everything

[ToddH]

Have had a Nest Cam Outdoor since January 22 (about 1.5 yrs now). I have set up two Zones to detect people and set the software to ignore anything outside of a zone. This worked fine until a couple months ago.

Problem is the camera has been recording everything that happens in front of it, whether it is in a zone or outside of one.

I have been getting data limit warnings from my provider for the last 2 months saying that I am about to incur additional costs. This is from the near-constant uploads by the camera.

I have tried uninstalling the camera and setting it up again, deleting all the zones, recreating the zones, and rebooting the power to the camera several times. It still records everything no matter what I try.

[MplsCustomer]

@ToddH 

Activity zones are used to control when you get notifications and when events are flagged, but they do NOT control when the camera records. I haven't seen any changes with this in the 4 years we've had Google Nest cameras and doorbells. We can filter things by zone, but everything still gets recorded if you have a Nest Aware Plus subscription (24/7 recording).

This is my understanding of what happens if you have a Nest Aware Plus subscription:

- the older Google Nest Outdoor Cameras record 24/7 unless you set up a schedule to turn them off at certain times.

- for the newer 2nd gen cameras, you can select either "60-day event video history" or "60-day event and 10-day 24/7 video history".

[ToddH]

I don't have Nest Aware Plus, just Nest Aware. My problem is now fixed, thanks to your post!

The problem was a combination of user error and poor software instructions. Since the Filters appear in an area where previous recordings a kept, I was assuming that the Filter function was used to view things that had *already* been recorded, much like filtering a list in your mail or spreadsheet program. Instead, I didn't realize it is telling the camera what to detect and record in the *future*.

When I turned off Motion and Person in Filters, the camera started working the way I want. I had been thinking that the Zones controlled what was recorded. Silly me.

Again, MplsCustomer, thanks for your help.

[MplsCustomer]

@ToddH 

For the cameras that work in the Google Nest app, the "Filters" do not control what's recorded; they only control what you see in the way of events. So if you have one of the older cameras and you turn "Motion" or "Person" back on, you will see those events.

[Jenelyn_O]

Hi folks,

Thanks for reaching out. I'm sorry for the delay. I just want to check if you managed to see the response above. Please let us know if you still have questions or concerns, as we'll be willing to assist you further. 

I appreciate the help, @MplsCustomer.

Best,

Jenelyn

[ToddH]

Can you explain exactly how to keep the camera from recording and uploading everything that  that it sees? This camera is on the verge of incurring extra costs to me from my ISP each month.

[EdmondB]

Hi there,

Once you set up your activity zone for your Nest Camera it will detect an event inside the line of the Activity  zones which will only record an event depending on the options that is enabled for Seen Events Settings.

Let me know if you have additional questions:

Thanks,
Edmond

[ToddH]

Thanks for responding, but I cannot find anything in the app called "Seen Events Settings." Can you tell me where to look?

I am using the Nest app 5.71.0.27 on iOS 16.5.1(c).

[MplsCustomer]

@ToddH 

 @EdmondB was referring to "Seen Events" options in the Google Home app.

What you really need an answer to is whether the Google Nest app RECORDS events even if they are outside of an activity zone. My suspicion is that it does record everything, but you can use activity zones to limit which ones send alerts. As I mentioned in my earlier post, with the Nest Aware Plus subscription that we have, cameras flag ALL events, whether they are in an activity zone or not, but we can use the Filter capability to screen these out.

In this Google Nest Help topic (https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/9207697) it says this:

"Activity Zones don't change what your camera detects

Even after you create Activity Zones, your camera still streams its entire view and stores the footage in your video history. The video feed stays the same with or without Activity Zones.

But when you have Activity Zones, you can get alerts about motion in certain parts of your camera’s view and also check when motion happened there in the past."

@EdmondB, can you answer whether the Google Nest app RECORDS events even if they are outside of an activity zone?

[EdmondB]

Hey everyone,

@MplsCustomer, With the activity zone set up it will prioritize all the alerts on the zone but it will not change the footage of the camera and records. 

@ToddH, The Seen Events Settings are only available in the Google Home app setting for 2nd Gen Nest Camera and Doorbell Wired or battery. 

Let me know if you have additional questions.

Thanks,
Edmond

[EdmondB]

Hi there,

I just wanted to follow up and see if you still need any help. Let me know if you have any additional questions from here.

Regards,
Edmond

[EmersonB]

Hey everybody,

@ToddH, just one final check in here since activity has slowed down. We'll be locking the thread in the next 24 hours, but if you still need help, we would be happy to keep it open. If there's more we can do, just let us know.

I appreciate the help, Edmond, Jenelyn and MplsCustomer.

Best,
Emerson