Nest Camera for Timelapse and Custom Clips - Feature Gone?

[mtants]

So, after looking for a solution to shoot a multi-angle timelapse over many weeks, without having to swap cards or batteries out on a GoPro or other mounted camera, I landed on Nest outdoor cameras. I bought two of them a few months ago to set up outside.

The location being filmed is a few hours away, and I need to be able to access the footage remotely. After fixing some connection issues by running a hard line to the structure from the main house, I got both the cameras working and set up in the Google Home app.

I recently paid for the Nest Aware Plus subscription. The reason I did this is because:

• The event history is 60 days instead of 30 for the regular plan
• NAP has 10 days worth of 24/7 video history

The reason I picked these cameras and the Nest subscription for this project are because:

• Per this support page, these features are listed:
  • Create clips
  • Create timelapses (on PC)

Now, apparently there's a difference between "Home" app and "Nest" app, and these differences apparently translate to a lack of features in the "Home" app. This is unacceptable.

I need to be able to take large chunks for video (3 hour clips would be fine) over many days during a highly-choreographed construction project that involves the lifting and lowering of an entire building.

• These large clips would then be edited and speed ramps would be applied to create timelapses

It seems the two main features I need, and are listed in multiple pages on various Google support pages, are:

• Create timelapses (link to section)
• Create a custom clip (link to section)

And it also appears that these features are apparently completely unavailable to me because of some migration from "Nest" to "Google Home," despite the Nest name and branding still being woven throughout support pages and subscription advertisements.

After some searching and a conversation with someone in support, it seems I'm relegated to using the app, which is a crime in and of itself, but also I'm limited to being able to download ONLY clips associated with an event (person, animal, car, etc.). And these clips are three minutes maximum.

Why advertise 24/7 video history if NOTHING CAN BE DONE WITH THE FOOTAGE? What good is it to have this feature if the footage is trapped in the confines of an app on a mobile device? 

So, I guess this post is part feature request, and those two features would be:

• Give me what I'm paying for, regardless of some "oh, it's not available on this type/platform/account" BS.
• Let me download my own goddamn footage.

Thanks

[MplsCustomer]

@mtants 

Unfortunately, as we discovered to our surprise a year ago when we bought a Google Nest Camera (Battery), Google Nest chose to make the new Google Nest cameras and doorbells (released starting in the fall of 2021) work ONLY in the Google Home app and NOT in the Google Nest app or on the home.nest.com website. As a result, they cannot be viewed with a browser, clips cannot be manually edited, there is no way to share a link to one of your cameras, and there is no "Schedule" function.

In addition, unless the Google Nest Camera (Battery) is plugged in with the optional power cable (as ours is), you can only get event video history, because on battery power the camera is not capable of recording 24/7.  So even though your Nest Aware Plus subscription supports 24/7 history for 10 days, the camera cannot provide it on battery power.  Also, many customers report that, when on battery power, the camera is slow to detect events because it has to wake up from "Idle" mode in order to record an event.  Also, while we do have 24/7 history and good event detection because our camera is plugged in, we have to access that history using the timeline tools in the Google Home app, which are noticeably inferior to those in the Google Nest app.

Here is Google Nest's Vice President's take on this approach, from a year ago (no updates since), along with numerous customer comments:

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Blog/Message-from-our-GM-Updates-for-our-Nest-customers/ba-p/...

[Brad]

Hey folks,

Thank you for your feedback on this, I fully understand the frustrations of not having your new Nest cams in the Nest app or available on https://goo.gle/3A7x7ug web app. 

However, the new Nest cameras and doorbell are exclusive to the home app because we wanted to create an integrated experience with your speakers and displays. A nest aware subscription applies to all of your cameras, speakers, and displays in the same home structure. Thank you for your continued patience, and support. 

Best regards,

Brad

[Brad]

Hi there,

Just checking in to see how the conversation is going, as there's been a lapse in activity on this thread.

Best regards,
Brad

[mtants]

Hi Brad, 

Unfortunately the only solution would be for Google developers to enable computer browser access and control to all devices visible on the Google Home mobile platform, and to make any video data selectable and downloadable if a paid subscription is in place.

It appears that they aren't willing to do these things at the moment, so there is no fix here.

Best,

T

[Brad]

@mtants

Our engineering team would like to take a closer look into this for you and others who may be affected by this. You can send them a feedback report that includes system logs by following the steps here. Thanks for helping our investigation! 

Best regards, 

Brad

[Brad]

Hi there, 

Just checking in to see how the conversation is going. Please let us know if you have any further questions or concerns. We'll leave this thread open for a little longer for follow-up questions and concerns. 

Best regards, 

Brad

[aatienza]

Hey there,

Just checking in to make sure that you've seen our responses. Please let me know if you have other questions or concerns as I will be locking this in 24 hours if I won't hear back from you again. Feel free to start a new thread and we'll be happy to help.
 

I appreciate the help, Brad.

Thanks,

Archie