Nest app updates with Thermostat control from Apple Watch, expanded camera options

Posted:
in iPhone
Google's Nest division updated its iOS app with several important features, most notably the ability to control its flagship Thermostat via the Apple Watch.

Image Credit: TechCrunch
Image Credit: TechCrunch


The Watch extension lets Thermostat owners adjust temperature without picking up their iPhone or another iOS device. Nest hasn't said whether its cameras or smoke protectors will eventually be controllable this way.

In the meantime, however, the Nest iOS app has received several other upgrades, all focused on camera support. Chief is the addition of "Spaces," which allows HomeKit-style grouping of devices by room -- Nest products don't currenly support HomeKit. The feature lets people see all of their Nest cameras at once, although simultaneous live views require that an iPhone or iPad be on Wi-Fi.

The update also adds 1080p support for the Dropcam Pro, and automatic video quality, which can scale back if necessary to maintain a continuous stream.

Finally users can choose to share password-protected live feeds with friends and family. People granted access to a camera can watch on the Web via video.nest.com.

The Nest iOS app is a free download, and runs on any device with iOS 8 or later. On top of any hardware costs, though, video archival features require a Nest Aware subscription starting at $10 per month.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 17
    sricesrice Posts: 120member
    Finally!

    yeah, and I meant it! :-p
    braderunner
  • Reply 2 of 17
    It's about time.  Nest is really slow to add new features to their products through software updates. Especially the thermostat. It has a lot of problems. It allows the temperature to go way above the set point when it is set to cool. I have woke up in the middle of the night sweating way too often. Will open the app and the temp is 70 when I have it set on 67. I will be switching to an Ecobee 3 very soon. 
    edited July 2016 proline
  • Reply 3 of 17
    chadbagchadbag Posts: 1,999member
    It's about time.  Nest is really slow to add new features to their products through software updates. Especially the thermostat. It has a lot of problems. It allows the temperature to go way above the set point when it is set to cool. I have woke up in the middle of the night sweating way too often. Will open the app and the temp is 70 when I have it set on 67. I will be switching to an Ecobee 3 very soon. 
    For the record, my Nest thermostat controls the temperature quite well. I've had the Nest since before Google bought Nest.   I don't have the issue you've mentioned.  I wonder if you have some strange environmental factors at play ?
    edited July 2016 nolamacguy
  • Reply 4 of 17
    EsquireCatsEsquireCats Posts: 1,268member
    Honestly it doesn't need to be this hard.
    Using 3rd party home automation solutions on iPhone and Apple Watch has led me to one conclusion with future purchases: If it doesn't support homekit, then I'm not going to buy it.

    Apps are best suited when there is more to do than changing a solitary number or flicking a single virtual switch. Homekit with Siri has always made a lot of sense here and homekit's "scenes" furthers how effortless home automation should be - none of this mishmash of 3rd party apps for every kind of device you want to control.

    3rd party apps, with their clumsy non-standard UIs and unusual bulk/functionality, are utter trash in comparison to the fluidity offered by native frameworks.

    This evaluation is even before walking down the road of Nest which is owned by an advertising/surveillance company - seriously who could be comfortable using an always-on Nest indoor camera which sends a constant stream of your home for "advanced algorithms in the cloud" processing?
    prolinebraderunnerDeelron
  • Reply 5 of 17
    massconn72massconn72 Posts: 162member
    I tried the Nest thermostat, and found it to be a great unit. The reason I sent both of the back is because the support staff are complete idiots. They swore that my system would work with the Nests. After about 4 hours on the phone they gave up and so did I.
  • Reply 6 of 17
    It's about time.  Nest is really slow to add new features to their products through software updates. Especially the thermostat. It has a lot of problems. It allows the temperature to go way above the set point when it is set to cool. I have woke up in the middle of the night sweating way too often. Will open the app and the temp is 70 when I have it set on 67. I will be switching to an Ecobee 3 very soon. 
    Same here. I'll set my Nest to cool to a certain temperature and 30 minutes later I'll notice that it's warmer than I expect. Walk over to the the Nest and, sure enough, the temperature setting has moved itself out of a range I find comfortable and is no longer actively cooling. It happens daily with both of my Nests. 

    I also purchased them before Google bought the company. And, this is not the Nest reflecting a preset schedule or moving to Auto-Away. 
    Deelron
  • Reply 7 of 17
    prolineproline Posts: 222member
    Honestly it doesn't need to be this hard.
    Using 3rd party home automation solutions on iPhone and Apple Watch has led me to one conclusion with future purchases: If it doesn't support homekit, then I'm not going to buy it
    If they don't support HomeKit, it usually means user experience doesn't come first. In GoogleNest's case what comes first is controlling user data and keeping people away from iOS. I can see why they would want that, but what I want is a company that cares about what I want. 
  • Reply 8 of 17
    It's about time.  Nest is really slow to add new features to their products through software updates. Especially the thermostat. It has a lot of problems. It allows the temperature to go way above the set point when it is set to cool. I have woke up in the middle of the night sweating way too often. Will open the app and the temp is 70 when I have it set on 67. I will be switching to an Ecobee 3 very soon. 
    Same here. I'll set my Nest to cool to a certain temperature and 30 minutes later I'll notice that it's warmer than I expect. Walk over to the the Nest and, sure enough, the temperature setting has moved itself out of a range I find comfortable and is no longer actively cooling. It happens daily with both of my Nests. 

    I also purchased them before Google bought the company. And, this is not the Nest reflecting a preset schedule or moving to Auto-Away. 
    It is a daily occurrence for me, too. I have a 1st gen nest. 
  • Reply 9 of 17

    chadbag said:
    It's about time.  Nest is really slow to add new features to their products through software updates. Especially the thermostat. It has a lot of problems. It allows the temperature to go way above the set point when it is set to cool. I have woke up in the middle of the night sweating way too often. Will open the app and the temp is 70 when I have it set on 67. I will be switching to an Ecobee 3 very soon. 
    For the record, my Nest thermostat controls the temperature quite well. I've had the Nest since before Google bought Nest.   I don't have the issue you've mentioned.  I wonder if you have some strange environmental factors at play ?
    I have the 1st gen nest. I have auto-schedule turned off. Not sure what it is, but, this is my first, only, and last nest product. 
  • Reply 10 of 17
    RezRez Posts: 19member
    That is why I switched to ecobee3, it has remote sensors which you can average each rooms where the sensors are or followed you where ever rooms you go and relaxed...instead of a single sensor from Nest....
    braderunner
  • Reply 11 of 17
    proline said:
    Honestly it doesn't need to be this hard.
    Using 3rd party home automation solutions on iPhone and Apple Watch has led me to one conclusion with future purchases: If it doesn't support homekit, then I'm not going to buy it
    If they don't support HomeKit, it usually means user experience doesn't come first. In GoogleNest's case what comes first is controlling user data and keeping people away from iOS. I can see why they would want that, but what I want is a company that cares about what I want. 
    I'm really not defending Nest/Google but the current Nests cannot support HomeKit because the hardware came out before the HomeKit standard did. It's possible that a new generation of Nest could be released with HomeKit compatible hardware, but I doubt it will happen soon. There are others that make HomeKit thermostats like Honeywell and ecobee and I'll likely be switching soon. 
  • Reply 12 of 17
    mac fanmac fan Posts: 87member
    I simply want to set a thermostat via phone whenever the mood strikes me. My heating/cooling concerns aren't consistent enough that I want a scheduled operation.

    So my only real concern is that a smart thermostat will hold whatever temperature I want and that I can occasionally check and set it remotely. Anything about a light switch (which I haven't found satisfactory yet) I want on HomeKit.

    The Nest is a cool looking device, but the complaints about it and customer service have been far too numerous for my sense of adventure. I'm hoping the ecobee3 will work out. It's not as cool looking as the Nest, but if it's reliable, I'll take it.  And the e3 has a Watch app.
  • Reply 13 of 17
    roakeroake Posts: 809member
    I bought three Nests.  I loved them, planned to buy more...

    Then Goggle bought the company.

    Now, Google knows when I'm home, when I'm not, all kinds of data about my home.

    I have zero trust in Google.  I'll be replacing the Nest thermostats once they show any form of trouble.

    Kinda makes you wonder what Google does with the info about whether you are home or not.  I'm glad I never got a Drop Cam.
  • Reply 14 of 17
    prolineproline Posts: 222member
    proline said:
    If they don't support HomeKit, it usually means user experience doesn't come first. In GoogleNest's case what comes first is controlling user data and keeping people away from iOS. I can see why they would want that, but what I want is a company that cares about what I want. 
    I'm really not defending Nest/Google but the current Nests cannot support HomeKit because the hardware came out before the HomeKit standard did. It's possible that a new generation of Nest could be released with HomeKit compatible hardware, but I doubt it will happen soon. There are others that make HomeKit thermostats like Honeywell and ecobee and I'll likely be switching soon. 
    You're right- you aren't defending Nest, at least not well. HomeKit devices have been on the market for a year and it is well within Nest's means to update the hardware if they wanted to, which they don't. Remember that until Fadell was recently fired Alphabet had given Nest an infinite budget with few strings attached, so they had the means. Future Nest will be on a very short leash and likely sold off, but that's another matter.  
  • Reply 15 of 17
    hagarhagar Posts: 130member
    proline said:
    If they don't support HomeKit, it usually means user experience doesn't come first. In GoogleNest's case what comes first is controlling user data and keeping people away from iOS. I can see why they would want that, but what I want is a company that cares about what I want. 
    I'm really not defending Nest/Google but the current Nests cannot support HomeKit because the hardware came out before the HomeKit standard did. It's possible that a new generation of Nest could be released with HomeKit compatible hardware, but I doubt it will happen soon. There are others that make HomeKit thermostats like Honeywell and ecobee and I'll likely be switching soon. 
    Wrong. The second gen Nest Thermostat was released long after HomeKit. They could have supported it if they wanted. 

    They don't even have an iOS widget after 2+ years. 

    Very unhappy with the device and customer support (I once was on hold for 75 minutes when calling for a bug in their firmware that took 6 months to fix) 
  • Reply 16 of 17
    nolamacguynolamacguy Posts: 4,758member
    proline said:
    If they don't support HomeKit, it usually means user experience doesn't come first. In GoogleNest's case what comes first is controlling user data and keeping people away from iOS. I can see why they would want that, but what I want is a company that cares about what I want. 
    I'm really not defending Nest/Google but the current Nests cannot support HomeKit because the hardware came out before the HomeKit standard did. It's possible that a new generation of Nest could be released with HomeKit compatible hardware, but I doubt it will happen soon. There are others that make HomeKit thermostats like Honeywell and ecobee and I'll likely be switching soon. 
    I'm confused -- what's been stopping them from developing new hardware when HK was announced a couple years ago?
    edited July 2016
  • Reply 17 of 17
    hagar said:
    I'm really not defending Nest/Google but the current Nests cannot support HomeKit because the hardware came out before the HomeKit standard did. It's possible that a new generation of Nest could be released with HomeKit compatible hardware, but I doubt it will happen soon. There are others that make HomeKit thermostats like Honeywell and ecobee and I'll likely be switching soon. 
    Wrong. The second gen Nest Thermostat was released long after HomeKit. They could have supported it if they wanted. 

    They don't even have an iOS widget after 2+ years. 

    Very unhappy with the device and customer support (I once was on hold for 75 minutes when calling for a bug in their firmware that took 6 months to fix) 
    Sorry, but, you are way wrong. The second gen nest came out way before HomeKit was announced. I'm pretty sure the third gen was out after HomeKit, so no excuse for it. But, I'm positive the second gen was way before. 
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