what you need to know
- In a recent Reddit AMA, one of Google’s product managers responsible for Google Home and Nest confirmed that the company is still working on supporting the old Nest camera in Google Home.
- Google noted difficulties in providing new software support for devices released in 2015.
- However, the product manager said that Google is committed to adding support for these older cameras.
Craving Google Home app support for your old Nest camera? While there’s still time to wait, you can rest assured that Google is working on supporting Nest cameras in Google Home. In a recent AMA on Reddit, members of the Google Home and Nest software teams directly answered various questions from users. Google has responded to at least some users asking about software support for older Nest cameras.
“We’re working on bringing support for older generation Nest cameras to the Google Home app,” said Emily, a Google Home and Nest product manager. “Stay tuned!”
This doesn’t give us any support timeline, but it might be helpful to let Nest users know that support is still ongoing. Currently, if you use a mix of Google Home and Nest products, your device may be split between Google Home and Nest apps. This isn’t a great user experience, but Google is actively trying to fix it.
Comment from r/googlehome
Product managers pointed out the difficulties associated with supporting Nest cameras that may be nearly a decade old. The first-generation Nest Cam was released in June 2015, followed by the Nest Cam Outdoor in July 2016.
“Updating the firmware and software of older devices, some of which were launched in 2015, is a significant technical challenge we are working to solve,” Emily wrote.
However, some of these older cameras are already available in the Google Home app. Last year, Google added support for Nest Cam Indoor and Nest Cam Outdoor to Google Home. Users can port the camera from the Nest app to the Google Home app relatively easily, and return to Nest if they don’t like the new experience. However, some older Nest cameras are still not supported.
The Google product manager’s comments are interesting because the company has overcome hurdles in supporting its oldest cameras. The 2015 camera mentioned in the Reddit comment is the Nest Cam Indoor, which is supported by Google Home. The company’s second-oldest camera, the Nest Cam Outdoor, is also supported.
Newer cameras, like the 2017 Nest Cam IQ and the 2018 Nest Hello Doorbell, are still not supported.
With few exceptions, Google’s long-term goal is to support all Nest products through Google Home. While the process is moving somewhat slowly, Google reiterated that it is still ongoing.