3rd Generation Nest Learning Thermostat. Home / Away Assist issues

[Sparkles70]

I have a 3rd Generation Learning Thermostat which has worked fine with Home and Away assist with the Nest App for 2 years. However, this year the home and away will not work. 

The Nest App is set up correctly and location services are always on with background refresh as per the guidance. It is working from my google account and my husband is not set up with the app - so it should only be using my phones location. When I leave the house, the location services says I am away but the thermostat is still on and things we're at home. I have tried a factory reset, multiple resets, multiple deletion and reinstallation of the app but it still doesn't work

Some suggestions were to also install the The Google Home App, which I have done, So there are now 2 apps I am using . I set up an automation using the help. The google home app shares the phone location with the nest app so there shouldn't be a conflict.

It's completely doing my head in. I have googled this to death and cannot find why the Home/Away won't work. Can anyone provide me with words or wisdom or help - apart from binning and finding a smart thermostat brand that does what it says on the tin!

[GabrielaG]

Hi @Sparkles70,

Thank you for reaching out to the community. I'm sorry to hear you're running into issues with your Nest Learning Thermostat 3rd Gen and that Home/Away Assist isn't working as expected. I understand this can be frustrating, and I'm ready to help you get this sorted out. 

I appreciate you taking the time to perform those initial troubleshooting steps; that information is really helpful for understanding the issue. Now, regarding the Home/Away Assist configuration, we need to consider a couple of things before we proceed with fixing it. I've detailed the key points below:

• If you share your home, Home/Away Assist works best when all household members opt in to share their phone's location. This helps the system accurately sense presence.
• Location can only be shared from one app at a time (Nest or Google Home). If you enable sharing in Google Home, it automatically disables it in the Nest app.
• Home/Away Assist does not constantly track your exact location, only whether you are currently home or away.
• If you choose not to share your phone's location, the system relies on device sensor data alone. This triggers a learning period (typically about a week) where it learns your routine and presence patterns, similar to how your thermostat learns temperature preferences.

You can also refer to these helpful articles for more information: Nest Home and Away not working.

Feel free to keep posting if you have more questions.

Regards,

Gabriela