What you need to know
- Owners of an older, first-gen Nest doorbell and camera have started reporting issues with its migration into the Google Home app.
- Users state that these issues have been happening for a while, as the app is treating their devices as "offline," taking away many features.
- Reports add that the doorbell can't even play its ringer properly via their connected speaker because of this issue and live video feeds are out of the question.
- A federal class action lawsuit was recently brought to attention, as those involved seek justice for Google's refusal to fix the voice command problems plaguing several Home models.
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Issues for Google Home users are gaining traction, as reports highlight struggles with several of the company's older Nest devices.
Users engaging on the Nest community forums have been continuously reporting "offline" problems with Google Home and their Nest devices (via 9to5Google). According to the OP (original post), the user has a doorbell and two cameras; however, they're unable to see their live video feeds through the Google Home app. The user states that the green lights are on, indicating that the devices are hooked up properly. Notifications are reportedly hitting their phone as expected, and they're able to watch recorded clips.
The only problem is that the Home app is treating its connected devices as if they're offline. This only started happening "since I transferred the doorbell from Nest to Home," per the report. The report adds that this conflict between the app and their doorbell (in this example) is affecting their speaker, as guests ringing their doorbell don't cause the sound to play.
The user adds that this has been happening for a while, but they can't find a solution anywhere.
One user states they've been having this issue ever since Google started migrating users from its old Nest app to the Home app. Their cameras "showed offline immediately after migrating, but I went through and hard reset everything, and they worked for a couple of days, but now they’re all showing offline again." Another user has been struggling with these same issues for over a month now.
Fed up & Frustrated
Users have become increasingly frustrated with the issues plaguing their Nest devices in the Google Home app. So far, per user reports on the forum, Google has not responded to their outcry about the problem. More than that, a Google representative has not responded yet to the ongoing community thread.
The timing of these Nest doorbell and camera issues with the Home app gaining more ground is impeccable. It was recently made known that a federal class action lawsuit was filed against Google due to the degrading and "malfunctioning" state that has become Google's smart home devices. Specifically, those from Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, and Kaplan Gore, LLP are fighting for consumers who may possess a Google Nest Hub, Google Nest Hub Max, Google Nest Mini, or Google Nest Audio.
Per the argument, these devices have become less capable of handling/processing users' voice commands over the years. Darren Kaplan from Kaplan Gore stated, "However, rather than getting 'smarter' and better over time, these Google ‘smart’ home devices get worse at their core function..."
These reports (from users) started appearing more and more early this year, and Google has yet to provide an appropriate fix. Google did promise a fix back in July, though the vibes given were that it wouldn't arrive until the fall. However, with these problems growing still, it seems the company has more work cut out for itself than previously anticipated.
