New Custom Clips in Google Home App - anyone seen it yet?

[EmptyNester]

Hello everyone,  November 30, 2023 Google announced that if you are running the Google Home app (Preview Version) that there is now a new feature rolling out that will allow for Custom Clip creation.  People have been asking for this for a while because up until now you could only save a clip if the app actually recorded the clip and as an official "event".

I believe Google will roll this out to users over time (days? weeks?) but I'm wondering if anyone has seen this feature appear in their app yet?

[gilleslibre]

It does not appear in the app ; I'm in Canada (Québec). 

[EmersonB]

Hello everyone,

@EmptyNester, thanks for sharing this useful info. 

@gilleslibre, it may not appear now because the updates are currently rolling out. 

To learn more, you may visit our public article about "New updates to Google Home for camera users: new AI image detection, requested features, and more!".

Regards,

Emerson

[EmptyNester]

Hi EmersonB,  thanks for the info.  I'm currently showing that the GOOGLE HOME app on my phone is v3.10.103.  Will that number change when the Custom Clips because available? Or is that feature simply a server side feature that needs to be activated on Google's side?

[EmptyNester]

Update: 12/09/2023 SAVE CLIP option updated for me.  I'm on the PREVIEW version 3.10.103 of the Google Home app on iPhone with NEST AWARE PLUS.    GOOD NEWS: As of today I can look anywhere at the 24/7 timeline and stop the video at any point I want.  Then clicking on the 3-bars in the lower right corner there is a SAVE CLIP button there.  This button has been there for a long time but it only appeared if you were viewing an actual recorded event.   When you click the SAVE CLIP button now it offers the option to set the length form 30 seconds to 5 minutes.   Sadly, it still does not generate a time/date stamp in the video which police departments strong prefer.   Hopefully Google is considering this feature ASAP. Just about ever other home security cam on the market does this.  

[gilleslibre]

Thank you for the update. I also get the addition in my Android version. Contrarely to you, we get a timeline showing at the bottom of the screen under the viewing widow when viewing the file. I don't understand all the new feature but I will explore it. The version that I have is 3.10.1.6 dated the 22 November. 

[EmptyNester]

Hi Gilleslibre, We might be talking about 2 different things.   I'm talking about the video itself.  It needs to have an imprint on top of the image showing the day and the clock counting the hours and minutes.  

[gilleslibre]

Yes, that is exactly what I am also writing about. The progressive date-time is shown counting with the video going on.  

In the Android file, the progressing date-timeline is shown under the video viewer. 

In the file downloaded on the computer, you need to get a video viewer that can also show the 'comments' of the video. The date-timeline are shown in the comments which are 'imprinted' on top of the video. For this you need to get a video player that can show the comments of the file; activate the comments when viewing the file; you will then get the imprinted date-timeline on top of the video. Myself, I use the Power Media Player downloaded from the Net for this purpose. It works identically as with the files downloaded with the video files from the first generation of Nest cameras. 

[gilleslibre]

See the following screenshot of my Android file viewer, You can see at the bottom of the screen the date-timeline seen while viewing a file:  

[gilleslibre]

And here, the same file as seen on my computer with the Power Media Player. You can see the timeline imprinted on top of the video in the middle of the screen.  

[EmptyNester]

Hi Gilleslibre,  thanks for figuring this out. This helps.  But I think it really needs to be simpler.  When a simple .MOV or .MP4 file is sent to law enforcement we can't ask them to use special viewing software.   And the idea that the meta data can be altered might be a problem.  It best to just have it embedded inside of the video image.   Just like how RING or ARLO or EUFY or a host other cam companies do it.   And even better would be the option at the time the clip is created to have the time/date counter on the image or not .  That way the user can choose.

[gilleslibre]

You are correct 100%.

This work around is quite stressing and I don't know if the detectives from my city will understand what I'm talking about if I need to explain it to them. The last time that I sent them files, they didn't seem to know what Dropbox was that I used to send them the files. I wonder how they managed. 

[EmptyNester]

Right,,, it needs to be simple.  In fact I just went back to the NEST app and did a SAVE CLIP and the file it makes has the time/date embedded right on top of the video with no special players needed.  And in fact it takes it one more step further and it stores the clip on the Google Server and you can just send someone a link to view it.  No need to store in on you iPhone PHOTOS and clutter it all up.    I was REALLY hoping they would implement it like the NEST app but I honestly don't think the people working on the Google App have ever seen how the NEST app works.  Such a shame. 

[JamesFredrick]

What about the timeline on your PC? It is gone now. If you want to see something that happened days ago

on the old version, there was a calendar. Now you have to use your phone. You cannot :backup" an

view a episode like someone breaking in your home etc. 

[EmptyNester]

Hello JamesFredrick,  Yes for now when viewing cameras on the Web (Home.Google.com) you can only look at live views.  I believe Google has indicated that they are actively working on this but as of yet there is no date announced.    For now I have NOT migrated my old Gen 1 came and I continue to use Home.Nest.Com for the very reason of be able to look at recorded footage and exporting clips.  Fingers crossed we see this soon.

[EmersonB]

Hey folks,

We appreciate you sharing your thoughts and ideas about the recent updates. I know how important this is for you. We’ll take note of it and ensure that we'll learn from your experience as we continually improve our products and services. Rest assured that we'll take this as feedback and learn from this to deliver a better process and experience in the future. 

Best,

Emerson

[EmptyNester]

Thanks EmersonB for the response.  I would offer this extra idea.  The way that the NEST APP was designed for the cameras is almost perfect.  It feels like the people bring those features over to the GOOGLE HOME app haven't even looked at how they work in the NEST APP.  Everything that is coming across needs to be as good or even more improved and so far I have not seen anything that I can say is better in the GOOGLE HOME app.

[EmersonB]

Hi EmptyNester,

We hear you. Our team is working hard to deliver the best experience for our users. Keep your eye on the Google Nest Community page https://goo.gle/2JvnMRy for any updates.

Thanks,

Emerson