Notification screen is blank

[chris_petersen]

Hi all,

We have a nest doorbell, a google floodlight camera and two nest cameras. The the floodlight started life in the google home account, but the doorbell and cameras started in the nest app.

I recently moved the nest cameras to the google home app and they work fine for me. However, my wife can’t get notifications. She gets them from the google home app just fine and she gets notified when someone is visible in the floodlight camera (so the phone's settings are fine). When I go Google Home > Settings > Notifications > Camera Notifications  I see our 4 cameras. When I click on the Flood light camera, the screen is normal, but when I click on any of the 3 cameras from Nest the screen is totally blank (I see the Notifications title, the back carat and the 5 buttons across the bottom, but no actual settings). I should add, she can view the camera feeds just fine.

I turned off notifications at the iOS level and went back to the page and it did tell me that notifications were off and I needed to turn them on. When I did and went back, it was still blank.

It all works fine on my phone which is the same model. I've tried:

• Deleting and reinstalling Google Home
• Rebooting the phone
• Updating iOS to the latest version
• Turning off notifications at the OS level, then turning the back on
• Deleting the Nest app

Nothing has worked so far.

Last bit of info. I actually transferred the two non-doorbell cameras a long time ago, but we don't have any notifications on those so we didn't notice that it wasn't working. Only after we transferred the doorbell and notifications broke did we realize that the other cameras have the same issue.

I would appreciate any advice you might have, thank you in advance.

PS I have screenshots, but Google says I don't have permissions to upload images. 

PPS, I have seen the following discussion, but it seems unrelated as their iOS notification screen is blank, the blank screen I'm hitting is in the Google Home app.

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Cameras-and-Doorbells/Cannot-turn-on-Notifications-on-an-iPho...

[EmptyNester]

Hello,  Wow,,, this one is a tuff one.    Hopefully some of the other users on this forum will respond with some ideas.  But in the mean time I'm going to go ahead and escalate this to get some Google Tech people involved.   You should see a request from them shortly asking for more information.  

Good luck and please return here if you figure this out. 

One possibility I can think of for trouble shooting is can you try it on a 3rd phone?   It might isolate it to that one phone or not.

[chris_petersen]

That’s a goood idea. We both have iPads as well, so I installed google home on each of those. On my iPad it works fine (just like the phone), but on my wife’s iPad that notification screen is blank (just like on her phone). So it would appear to be related to her account, not the device (I presume).

thank you for escalating!

[EmptyNester]

Hmmmm, okay,  sounds like we have learned a bit more that it is specific to her gmail account.

Another thing (for trouble shooting) is this:  Do you have another gmail account that you use for yourself?   If so do the family share with THAT gmail account and then go on to her phone or iPad and log in to the Google Home app with that.  This will help determine if it is something specific with her GMAIL account or not.   

Another option is you can open an official support ticket and speak with a Google Tech person on the phone.  Here is the link to open the ticket.   

https://support.google.com/googlenest/gethelp

Hopefully this can be figured out it will just take some more detective work.

[peter-17]

Sounds like my wife and I are having the same problem with our Nest Hello Doorbell and Nest Indoor Camera. The only difference is that we're using Google Pixel 6 phones. Did you figure out if it's a problem with the Gmail account?

In case it's relevant, my wife's Gmail account still ends in the legacy "@googlemail.com" domain rather than "@gmail.com". Maybe that's causing an issue?

[peter-17]

(trying my reply again as the last one seems to have been deleted as spam)

It sounds like my wife and I are having the same problem. Did you figure out if it's a problem with the Google account?

In case it's relevant, my wife's Google account name still ends in the legacy "googlemail.com" rather than "gmail.com". Perhaps that's causing an issue?

[nerys · Accepted solution]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for posting in the community!

I'm so sorry to hear that your first-generation Nest Cameras aren't sending notifications to your family members, and also that they are unable to adjust the settings. Don't worry; I'm here to help!

I'm curious about something you mentioned. I see that you have recently moved your Nest Cameras from the Nest app to the Google Home app. I suppose you are part of the Public Preview. Can you please confirm it?

If the primary user (owner of the devices) is in the Public Preview, it's recommended that all family members with access to the devices in the Google Home app join the Public Preview. This will ensure everyone has access to all features (including notifications).

I hope this helps! If you have more questions for me, feel free to reply to this post. I'll be happy to assist further! 

Best regards,

Nery.

[peter-17]

You're absolutely correct nerys. I was part of the public preview but my wife wasn't. Adding her to it solved the issue for me. Thanks very much!

[nerys]

Hi peter-17,

Thanks for getting back to me!

Great news that now you and your wife are getting notifications!

I'll be here if you need anything else. I'll be happy to answer any question you may have!

Best regards,

Nery.

[chris_petersen]

That IS a great catch, thank you! Silly question(s), how would I check that? And how would I add her to it?

Thank you!

[EmptyNester]

@nerys  Wow,,, great catch on your part.  But it brings up the idea that it is time for Google to stop the preview and just turn in on for EVERYONE.  Not having it turned ON by default must be confusing a lot of people.

[nerys]

Hi EmptyNester,

Thanks for sharing this useful information with chris_petersen!

I understand that it can be confusing when preview features aren't enabled by default. While it's helpful for testing new features, it would likely be more user-friendly to have these features turned on by default for everyone. I'll be sure to share your feedback with my team.

Again, I really appreciate your help on this thread.

@chris_petersen please, keep me posted about how it goes! 

I'll be here if you need anything else. I'll be happy to answer any question you may have!

Best regards,

Nery.

[chris_petersen]

Thank you @nerys and @EmptyNester! I tried it last night and I can confirm this was what happening and your fix solved it.

Really appreciate it!

[nerys]

Hi chris_petersen,

Thanks for your response!

I'm glad to hear I could help you resolve the Nest Cameras' notification situation! I also want to thank EmptyNester for the assistance on this thread.

I'll be here if you need anything else. I'll be happy to answer any question you may have!

Best regards,

Nery.

[EmptyNester]

Not a silly question at all.  Go into the Google Home app and click on the GEAR (settings) in the lower right corner.  Then scroll down to the bottom and click earn PUBLIC PREVIEW.