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Can't Set up Home/Away Assist & No Option to Manually Change

dagordon
Community Member

Monday

Hi, just added 7 brand new 4th Gen thermostats to my house after the old ones were working fine with the prior Nest app but support was discontinued.

Not happy. Can't figure out how to achieve basic goal of manually switching all my thermostats from Eco/Away to Home and vice versa. 

Latest iPhone Google Home app.

Two issues, probably related:

1. Cant't set up Home and Away - when I click on the location pin in upper left of the app, "Set up Home and Away" is at the bottom - I go through this process and "Set up Home and Away" is still there and never goes away.

2. No way to manually change from Home to Away or vice versa. Numerous support docs and the app itself in the "Setup up Home and Away" confirmation screen refer to the ability to manually switch somewhere in the Favorites tab. There is no such switch anywhere to be found.

 

Does ANYONE have a manual Home / Away button? If so where?

Have tried uninstalling and reinstalling app, and this is happening on multiple different devices. 

 

Thanks!

 

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3 REPLIES 3

dagordon
Community Member

Monday

Ha, the new thermostats don't appear in the Nest app but I can use the Nest app to change between Home and Away 

Is there really no way to do this in the Google Home app??

thegios
Bronze
Bronze

yesterday

I've been having this same problem since a week.

I have a case open with Google but they are of no help.

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kcruzgonzalez
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

6 hours ago

Hello @dagordon,

 

Thank you for posting on the community. I understand the issue with the Home and Away setup loop and the missing manual switch on your new 7 x Nest Thermostats (4th Gen). I see that you have already tried the step of uninstalling and reinstalling the Google Home app and that this failure is occurring on multiple different devices. Let me help you with this.

We need to force a clean re-initialization of the household routines that govern Home/Away Assist.

Step 1: Check and Repair Home/Away Household Routines

The "Home" and "Away" states are managed by two specific routines that must be active.

  • Open the Google Home app.
  • Tap Routines (usually in the lower menu or the main screen).
  • Look for two routines labeled "Home" and "Away" (or similar names related to presence sensing).
  • If they are not there: This confirms the setup loop is failing to create them. You may need to manually re-run the "Set up Home and Away" process one more time to force their creation.
  • If they are there: Tap into each one and ensure they are enabled.

Step 2: Check for Conflicting Devices

Sometimes, an old, offline, or faulty device is designated as a presence sensor and is causing the entire structure to fail the setup check.

  • Open the Google Home app.
  • Tap the location pin in the upper left to see the Home/Away Assist settings.
  • Tap Presence Sensing.
  • Review the list under "What uses Presence Sensing?" and "What helps your home know you're away?" Ensure only your necessary phones are listed and remove any old devices, especially ones that are offline.

Please try Step 1 and Step 2. If the Home and Away routines are present, try disabling and re-enabling them, then attempt the "Set up Home and Away" process once more.

 

Regards,

Kevin

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