Google is killing off 1st and 2nd generation Nest Learning Thermostats

TidBITS Talk
1

I ran across several articles about this in my feed today. This is one, at Digital Trends, is one of the better ones:

Google’s Nest thermostat cull is a warning to all smart home users

Basically, as of October 25, 2025, Google is completely ending support for the first two generations of Nest Learning Thermostat. This means that these thermostats will no longer be able to provide any of their actual “smart” features, and will function only as regular programmable thermostats.

I’m fortunate that our Nest is a third-generation, so it’s not yet affected by this, but this puts the writing on the wall for all Nest products that have not yet been lobotomized by Google. It will happen, eventually, more likely sooner than later.

This is the latest example of “Killed by Google”, but this one feels different. A thermostat isn’t something most people would think of as needing continuous remote support, and a large number of people feel that smart-home devices should be able to be fully functional with only local support, with at most a general Internet connection to provide certain information and connectivity (for example, the ability to adjust it from a phone app when away from your local network).

I’m curious as to what others here think about this. I, myself, made a conscious decision several years ago to not rely on anything owned by Google/Alphabet to endure, but we made an exception for the Nest. We had bought into Nest before Google folded it into Google’s internal hardware division in 2018; prior to that, it operated as its own independent subsidiary.

In fact, just last year, we switched back to our Nest thermostat after trying a few other brands in an attempt to move away from Google brands. The others we tried were each missing at least one key piece of functionality that we rely upon the Nest for.

Now I’m going to have to make a more comprehensive survey of the alternatives, since Google clearly has no intention of providing ongoing service to any older device, regardless of how easy or difficult it is for them to continue such service.

2 Likes
2

I’d say these types of moves are, sadly, common across many types of products these days. All companies do it now; large and small, established and start up, consumer and business-to-business…

Unfortunately, I don’t think there are any easy or obvious workarounds for people who want anything beyond the most basic devices, appliances, vehicles, and other items now.

3

I had a very early Nest thermostat. Functionally, it was everything that I always thought a smart thermostat should be. It was a sad day when Google bought Nest, even though they pinky swore that they’d never commingle Nest users’ data with their ad network profiling (how’d that work out, FTC?).

I’ve been working toward moving off cloud-based IoT products ever since. I’m now deep into the Home Assistant space, and though it requires much more thought than locked-in commercial products, there is an amazing range of compatible devices, and it’s nice knowing you can keep all your data local if you desire and you aren’t locked in to one company’s products. Nor are you at the whim of corporate marketing departments’ great new revenue-generating “improvements” in their products.

I no longer live where I need HVAC, though, so I can’t recommend a specific Home Assistant-compatible smart thermostat.

4

I’m disappointed. This comes on the heels of Google dropping the Nest Protect smoke and carbon monoxide detectors just as the ten year limit on their life is expiring for people who bought them early, meaning that I will need to replace those with another brand. In this case apparently First Alert are selling Nest compatible replacements. I have 12 protects in two houses and eleven will expire this year, starting in July.

Thermostats don’t have a ten year expiration date. I’m not sure I understand why the first and second gen models cannot continue to be used by the Google Home or Nest apps. I have three second-gen thermostats so I’ll need to find replacements.

At this point I’m trying to decide if I should switch to HomeKit and away from Google. As you say, Google has a history of dropping perfectly good products. And I’ve been dropping more and more of Google products over the last two years, starting with Gmail, and search, so now I guess it’s time. (I also have two Google doorbell cameras so I may ditch those too and lose the Nest and Google Home apps altogether.)

I know Apple does this too (DarkSky, Airport routers to name a couple) but as I recall not nearly to the degree that Google does.

I wonder if this would be happening if Google hadn’t bought Nest but instead it remained its own business?

5

Any idea as to how to tell which generation Nest we have? The quoted article doesn’t say, nor does the Nest app.

Update: Found it, at Google of all places:

6

Thanks for sharing the discovery of this news!
Since you’re asking for thoughts about this…
I’ve been computing since the 80s so have seen software and hardware products crippled, discontinued, features I use often and like changed or deprecated and so on. So I’ve got a bit of a jaded view on this but will try to comment usefully.
I live in a house without a thermostat: heated by manually controlled hot water radiators/cooled by open windows but in the past have lived with rotating dial thermostats or on-thermostat programmable units connected to HVAC.
I grew up without much technology so manual control/setting a box on the wall is no issue for me: I don’t ‘need’ a ‘smart’ device.
My first impression (apologies, I didn’t read the linked article but thanks for evaluation several and providing it) was ‘thank goodness it still works as a programmable unit’ and that they gave some advance notice (as with the case of Skype’s demise).
In recent years I am consciously moving away from technology to avoid the recurring changes and disruptions. Luckily I know of and am comfortable using non-tech alternatives and don’t have any pressure from work or others to be in certain products/softwares. (Obviously I’m still using Apple products and Internet, yes, but strive to do it in a ‘consumer’ way, not trading privacy/analysis and surveillance of data and self for a product or service as much as possible).
If a person really ‘needs’ the functionalities of such products/systems, then it’s helpful to also have/develop a frustration-tolerant personality, or to ‘embrace change’ as is sometimes said, and accept that this will be their future.
Some might be able to reduce frustration by moving to more manual and stable options.
It’s also quite kind to share results of one’s research/handling of these changes, via a web page or here etc. Turn the frustration and time spent into good Karma so to speak.

7

I lived for a long time with normal thermostats, and then even programmable ones. But smart thermostats, which are available outside the home, really add a lot. I can have them cut the heat and AC when the house is empty - it saves money, and does a small bit to help with climate change. I can start the heat or AC when I am on my way home so that when we arrive the house is more comfortable. When my mother-In-law comes to stay I can quickly change the programming so the house is warmer than we usually keep it, especially her bedroom. (Well, the same goes with any company - we keep the house colder during heating season than most people I know, but she visits quite often.)

Home assistant: I’ve tried it, but it’s way too complicated. I need something that my non-techy wife can use and understand. Nest was barely that, but she gets it. HomeKit is similar enough, plus we’re already using it for some smart plugs and some lights.

And the Nest Protect were unbelievably great products. Before them it was random beeps (for some reason always while we were trying to sleep) and then it was guess which one needs a new battery. The Protect always told you. The Protect tell you when you are away from home that something is up. I prefer not to go back to inscrutable beeps and the inability to know that my house may be on fire, or filled with CO. In fact the Protect tell you well ahead of time that their ten year lifespan is about to expire.

I mean I could go back to dumb or non-connected programmable devices, but I guess I could go back to rabbit ears on the TV, manual paper tracking of finances and paper exercise logs, a typewriter or pen and paper to compose documents, snail mail for communication with other people, etc.

8

I have three and they still work. So you have more detail?

image
image1206×2622 183 KB

9

IMG_1297
IMG_12971179×2556 214 KB

The other three expire in August.

Tap the gear icon top-right in the Nest app, then each of the Protects, then Technical Info - it will show the expiration date.

I also forgot that Google bought Dropcam and folded it into Nest, then dropped support for old Dropcam cameras a few years ago. Why? It’s a camera. It still works.

And any new Google cameras or doorbells that you buy don’t work in the Nest app - only the Google Home app. And while the Google home app shows Nest thermostats, it doesn’t support thermostat scheduling (yet) - you need the Nest app for that.

It’s weird decisions like this that make me want to look into replacing all of the Nest stuff (except the Protects - I already have replacements for those) with HomeKit devices. I may go with one thermostat to see how it works.

10

Yes, but expiring doesn’t mean dropping support. All CO detectors expire, say after 10 years.

Yes, that bothered me. But when I reached out to their support, they honored their offer for a $99 credit to the Google store which was the right amount to get a replacement equivalent camera, so now I have that installed. And they didn’t require me to return the Dropcam (which is, albeit, worthless).

This broken experience is so annoying. I have two apps. Some devices, like the Protects, only work in Nest. The new camera only works in Home. And my Nest doorbell works in both. It’s one of the most disastrous user experiences, and coming from a company with resources and tech know-how to make this a world-class success. If I could walk away from Google and take these devices with me, I would.

11

I didn’t say that they were dropping support in the case of the Protects. They are dropping the product just as people like me, who adopted when they first came out, need to buy replacements. You can still buy limited supplies (limited to 5 per customer), though Amazon is also still selling them.

But people who installed in, say, 2017 will not be able to replace them with Nest Protects when they expire in 2016/2017. (Some of my Nest Protects that are expiring in 2015 were installed in 2016.)

12

Okay. So the confusion comes from 3 different definitions of “not working” getting comingled here in this thread:

  1. the device naturally reaching end of life
  2. Google not selling replacement devices
  3. Google stopping cloud/server support for devices

All topics worth discussing, and all distinct issues. But the OP was about (3), so that’s what I thought you were referring to. Re-reading, I see you were talking about something else.

13

Have to say this is disgraceful behaviour by Google, as many have said thermostats shouldn’t expire
a) is there a campaign we can get behind
b) are there any hacks about, eg keep an old device that doesn’t update apps (meaning the old app, which will still work)?

Thanks all

14

I switched to Ecobee when Google bought Nest, because I refuse to be forced into the Google (or Amazon) ecosystem. Ecobee has provided the functionality I wanted, and so far they work fine with HomeKit directly. I liked Nest, and really wish that they’d been able to stay independent, but I’m guessing that Google offered a lot of money.

1 Like
15

Yeah, this is a deeper topic than just what Google is doing here. Every product exists within the context of its technological milieu, and assumptions about reasonable lifespan that might have been true for a product whose milieu was physical switches and gears may not apply to those whose milieu involves connected online services.

2 Likes
16

Yes. I think “ecosystem” is the concept we usually use to describe this, eh? And I’m hating the ecosystem / milieu Google has dragged me through.

Thanks for that tip. Ugh, my 3 all expire this December!

That’s tempting, given my situation. On the other hand, it would probably be foolish for me to buy a product whose ecosystem is already EOL.

I have heard only good things about Ecobee products. For thermostat, I had a nice Nest, but when my HVAC was replaced last year, they couldn’t get it working with the Nest, so they stuck in some lame Honeywell. My HVAC friend recommended the Ecobee Premium, which I’ve researched and have my eye on. There’s a refurbished / earth-day special going on for $150.

Unfortunately, I’m not seeing an Ecobee Smoke/CO detector in their product lineup:

Of course, if the democratized smart home protocols take off, I can stop looking for products by a single manufacturer. I don’t feel like we’re there yet… ??

17

I started there, but “ecosystem” seemed to imply a bit more coherence on the part of the manufacturer. What I meant is the technology that’s considered appropriate for such a device at that point in time, beyond what any one company might produce.

1 Like
18

Can these products work disconnected? If the cloud server goes away (or if you’re just not connected to Wi-Fi), will the product continue working? Or will it get bricked without that cloud connection?

I ask because the thermostat bundled with my HVAC system is a smart device. I can program schedules and several other intelligent features, but Internet connectivity is a configurable option, which I have never configured.

Without the network configuration, I can’t access it remotely, and the display won’t show me local weather forecasts, but it otherwise works normally.

But perhaps the Nest products aren’t designed that way.

19

I guess sometimes old school is better. Years ago my then electric company offered a discount if I installed what I guess was a “smart” thermostat so they could shut off my HVAC if there was a need to prevent power failures. Turned out my system was too old to use the the thermostat so I didn’t do it. I didn’t install a “smart” thermostat when I moved 4 years ago, even though my new electric utility offers them for massive discounts. I have no problem manually adjusting the thermostat if required. Ditto “smart” doorbells.

Hmmm, no heating or cooling required? Sounds like some place that doesn’t have winter and summer seasons just Spring and Autumn; must be nice.

1 Like
21

As I said, I want the ability to control them from outside the home. That’s why I got them in the first place. For example, the thermostats support separate programs for when you are home vs when you are away, something that I’d need to remember to do on three thermostats before I left the house and then when I returned.

So, Google says yes, but not for me.

Programming on the thermostat itself is harder compared with using the nest app. I don’t believe I can do anything like program on Monday and copy it to the rest of the week, for example.

I just ordered one Ecobee to try out. That said: staying with Nest would be less expensive for me. I just worry about the long-term. Google is giving me little reason to trust they will continue supporting what I have going forward.

1 Like