Nest Cam - Can't Mute Audio

[Dickie]

This is now my third post about this issue.
This has been ongoing now for over 2 years. My first thread opened in October 2021!!

I've posted twice about this before, plus others have posted.

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Apps-Account/Nest-Cam-Battery-Wired-Cant-Mute-Live-Feed-iPhon...

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Apps-Account/Nest-Cam-Battery-Wired-Cant-Mute-Live-Feed-iPhon...

From another poster (see the below link), they mentioned that the volume is using in call volume and not normal speaker volume controls.

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Apps-Account/Cannot-turn-the-volume-all-the-way-down-while-li...

And another...
https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Cameras-and-Doorbells/Can-t-mute-the-volume-on-my-Nest-Camera...

I constantly leave feedback and nothing happens. I need this resolving as do others.
I cant view my live feed without sound, its ridiculous!

[EmptyNester]

Hi Dickie,  I'm an end user like you and I have been using these cams for a number of years.  And I agree a mute button on the screen when watching playback of LIVE would be handy.

Since most of my nest cams are the original Gen 1 cams I use the NEST app most of the time.  I just looked and that app does not have a mute button either.   So I took it a step further as I have cams from (2) other companies and their apps do not have mute buttons either.  I'm surprised by this.   I guess for years I have just been using the volume buttons on the side of the iPhone.  But a non-screen mute would be a great idea.   I'm going to leave feedback with that request right now and hopefully other readers of this forum might do it as well.

[Dickie]

Thank you EmptyNester. 
it’s not the lack of a mute button (though that would help). It’s the fact that the volume will never go off when viewing the cameras.

for example when you view a YouTube video you use the volume buttons on your phone to increase or decrease down to silent. Well when viewing the cameras you cant get down to silent. No matter how long you press the volume down button for it will always play sound.

I hope that explains it better because it’s not the easiest issue to try and explain. 

[EmptyNester]

Ohhhhh,  Hmmmm, I just tried it with the Google Home app on my iPhone 13 and the volume does in fact drop down to zero with nothing coming out the speaker.  Now I'm scratching my head on this one.  Are you on iPhone or Android?     Do you have another family member's phone to test it on just to see if you can turn it down on another phone?

[Dickie]

Thanks for testing this EmptyNester.

I'm on the same, iPhone 13 on the Google home app. My partners iPhone 11 does the same.
That is the volume does look like it goes to zero for a second then it increases a notch straight after. Again hard to explain.
When you tested are you sure there was noise on the live feed? I should add this this only occurs in the live feed.

[EmptyNester]

Hello again,  Yes, I confirmed my volume goes up and down on both recorded clips and LIVE viewing.  

So let's compare the version of Google Home you are on.  The app says I'm on 3.12.104.  

I found this by going into the app and hitting the gear (settings) and going down and selecting SUPPORT and it shows the version number.  

The other thing I might mention is that I'm enrolled in the PREVIEW version.  I have been on it for months and it works great and has a few new features.   If you are not on the PREVIEW version I recommend it.   On that same SETTING screen just under the SUPPORT option is the PUBLIC PREVIEW. That is where you enroll.

Let me know what you find.

[Dickie]

I'm on the same version public preview too, but this has been ongoing for a while now since Oct 2021. So version number is kind of irrelevant. Also I'm guessing I've had a couple of different iPhones since then too with different iOS versions also.

I appreciate you checking but I'm unsure why you can turn the volume down completely and I cant , others are experiencing the same issues as per the other closed threads.

I can only hope others will post here before this thread gets locked to help highlight the issue.

[EmptyNester]

WOW,,,, I'm at a loss on this one.  I'm guessing you did this but did you logout of the google app.  Remove the app from the phone, restart the phone and reinstall and re-login?

If you want I can escalate this thread so that you will hear from a real Google tech person.  But given all  you have done maybe you don't want to pursue this any longer . Let me know if you want me to do this. 

[Dickie]

Apologies I believe the links I attached to the other threads weren't working, I've now fixed them.
I hadn't thought of removing the app, just tried it now and its no different unfortunately.

Yes definitely escalate please! 

[EdmondB]

Hey Dickie, 

Thank you for following the steps suggested by EmptyNester. Can you please confirm the iOS version that is currently installed on your phone?
 

I appreciate the help, @EmptyNester. 

Regards
Edmond

[Dickie]

iOS 17.3.1

[EdmondB]

Hi there, 

Thanks for the information — we'd be happy to take a look into this for you. Please fill out this form with all the needed information. Let me know once you’re done.

Best,
Edmond

[EdmondB]

Hey there, 

Thanks for filling out the form! Our support team will send you an email soon to help you out. If you have any more questions or concerns, please let us know.

Regards,
Edmond

[bluesfan1950]

@Dickie I just read through all of your threads and can’t believe it’s been an issue for this long. I just got Nest cameras a few months ago and this has been bugging me since day one. Confirming I still have the same issue 

[Dickie]

@bluesfan1950 Thanks for the reply.

Its a shame not more people have jumped on this thread as I'm sure others are experiencing this issue too.

However Google have replied and said;

"The feature to mute the camera's feed is only available by turning off the microphone audio from the settings. The feature is specific to the iOS operating system. 

We would suggest to inform the customer that the feature is specific to the iOS operating system, and unfortunately we do not provide support to that operating system's features."

This does indeed mute the audio in the live stream however doing this also turns off audio recording for all clips both live and in the past.

This is not acceptable for me as I need to have audio recording and also the ability to use the microphone.

I shouldn't have to mute the microphone to mute the live feed, that's not how it works on any other camera, including my Nest doorbell.

It would seem Google cant be bothered to fix it, possibly because there isn't enough people complaining of the issue.

I'm looking to move away from Google products going forward, the lack of support and poor user experience has eventually worn me down.

[FuzzNiner]

To say that this is an iOS specific setting is asinine and unacceptable. You're refusing to accept responsibility that this is a feature that YOU (Google) added to your own app. I shouldn't have to disable audio recording to mute audio. What if I'm at work and I want to check who's at the door without disturbing others or see who's in my front yard without having to listen to all the ambient background noise?

I can watch videos on Google's YouTube iOS app without audio by turning my phone's volume all the way down. So don't blame it on the OS. The problem is that when I reduce volume to zero while viewing live video or a recorded activity, the Google Home APP automatically turns the volume up about 5% on its own. Users cannot mute completely. This is not a version issue, iOS issue, or hardware issue. It's a feature that you need to remove. 

[Dickie]

Thanks for replying FuzzNiner. I completely agree with everything you've said. Its also comforting to see others are unhappy at the inability to mute a live feed and the less than adequate response by the Google engineers.

Unfortunately I'm at a loss now and I cant see the issue ever being resolved.

[benmachado]

We’ve been losing our minds over this since our dropcam and the nest app stopped being supported. If an app is displaying video and audio then the system volume should raise or lower that, down to SILENT if the user wants. The fact that this new nest and google home combo refuses to stay on silent after you lower the volume all the way is actually insane. You can see and hear it go to 0 then immediately pop back on to about 10% or so. No one needs a mute button, we just need this app to follow the iOS volume and not try and turn it back up right after you let go. 

really need a solution here

[mejiacruz]

Hi @benmachado 

I know that all these situations can be frustrating. As was mentioned by Edmond, I need some additional information from you, and to ensure your privacy, it would be best to share it through. Please fill out this form and let us know when you’re finished. We’ll have someone reach out to you via email from there.

We deeply appreciate you sharing your thoughts and experiences, in this article you can check all the ways we have for you to share feedback about Google Nest.

Thank you for your honest feedback. This is really helpful.

All the best,

Josh

[benmachado]

Filled out the form, thanks.

[Dickie]

Thanks for weighing in benmachado. I completely agree.
Unfortunately I don't think we will see a solution any time soon. Google don't seem to think this is an issue and almost imply that its like this by design. Which is quite obviously a lie.

Though the more people that express their dissatisfaction with the inability to mute the volume, will hopefully force Google to look at this issue.