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Can't add a household member with google account with non-gmail email address

BoothSt
Community Member

I have spent two hours exploring this issue. The NEST Learning thermostat is connected to my gmail account via Nest app.  I cannot add a new household member (tenant at the address of where the thermostat resides) (from Nest or Home) who has a Google account but a non-gmail email address. Error message is "Can't send invite right now. Try Again" (same message many times, try again doesn't work)

So I created a new gmail account for the use of the tenant at that address. However, that gmail address is not connected to a google home app as I don't have a separate device for that.

I can't figure out how to accept the invitation without having the gmail account and Home app on a separate device. There appears to be no way to access the home app with the new gmail address.

My preference of course would be to connect to her google account where she does have the home app but not a gmail address.

HELP please!

6 REPLIES 6

David_K
Platinum Product Expert
Platinum Product Expert

Instead of creating a new separate Google account, ask the tenant to create a Google account using their existing email address. Ask them to go to https://accounts.google.com/signup/v2/webcreateaccount?flowName=GlifWebSignIn&flowEntry=SignUp and click "Use my current email address instead". That way they can create a Google account, which is needed to be invited to a Google Home (it won't work with non-Google email addresses), but keep their existing email address.

Once that's sorted, ideally the tenant should login to the Google Home app on their own device. If that's not possible, perhaps they can borrow a phone or tablet from a friend or family member? I do wonder if they don't have a device, what's the purpose of adding them as a home member? They need to have their own device and use the Home app to manage the device?

The only other workaround I can think of would be for you to temporarily sign out of your account in the Home app, login with their account, accept the invitation, sign out of their account, then sign back into your account. That's not convenient though as signing out means removing your account from all the Google apps on your device on Android.

 

BoothSt
Community Member

I figured it out by opening a new gmail account in the house's name, which any tenant can use to access the thermostat through google home app on their phone. the thermostat info/gmail address is part of my google home as well so I can monitor as needed. All alerts go to me as the homeowner. We'll see how it works.  

What I had thought would be helpful would be a separate device that would have the gmail account and the home app that would stay with the house.

Markjosephp
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hello there,

 

Thanks for the help here, @David_K.
 
@BoothSt, due to advanced security features that prevent Nest devices from gaining access, Google Workspace accounts cannot be used in Nest devices. But I'm glad to know that you've set up an account so you can share access to it with your family members. To learn more about this, please check this link and let us know if you have more questions.

 

Regards,

Mark

Hi BoothSt,

 

I wanted to see if you still needed help. Please let us know if you have any other questions or concerns.

Thanks,

Mark

Problem solved. Case closed!!

EmersonB
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi folks,

@BoothSt thanks for getting back to us and we're glad that it's resolved now. It looks like we can consider this one complete, so I will lock the thread now. Feel free to start a new thread and we'll be happy to help.

 

I appreciate the help, Mark and davidking.
  
Best,
Emerson