The Google Home app may soon work offline and finally support your old Nest camera
In a recent Reddit AMA, Google revealed that it is working on multiple projects for its smart home platform. Chief among these is the introduction of an offline mode. The way Google Home currently works, as explained by Android Authority, commands sent to a device are sent through corporate servers first before affecting your network. If your internet ever goes down, jobs may not be sent at all, which can be frustrating for homeowners. Offline mode solves this immediately by enabling local control.
However, it may still be a while before we see the feature rollout. One of the Google developers told one commenter that the team is focusing more on locally routing device interactions via the Matter standard. They do this first because they want to establish a stable, low-latency software foundation before moving forward. “Once… a significant portion of your traffic is happening locally,” the company will explore setting up an offline mode for Google Home.
Bringing in the old
Much of the AMA saw people voicing their grievances through Google Home. They point out the many issues affecting the platform, using, shall we say, colorful language. Once you get past all the vitriol, you’ll start to see what’s in the pipeline, including adding support for the first generation of Nest cameras.
The old models don’t work with the current version of Google Home, leading to an ecosystem full of hardware that should function as a coherent whole, but unfortunately doesn’t. Support is currently sporadic. According to another developer, updating the firmware for those old gadgets was a tough challenge. Some of them are old by technical standards and were launched in 2015. A few, like the original Nest Cam Indoordoes work with Google Home.
Expand support
Another area the team is working on is improving integration with third-party brands such as Wyze and Eufy. Several commenters asked why the tech giant is so focused on Nest devices instead of expanding support to non-Google hardware. They cite “safety and quality controls as reasons for delays.” Such efforts require close collaboration with partners to ensure everything runs smoothly.
Considering that Wyze recently suffered (yet another) security breach and service outage in February, it might be a good idea for the team to take the time to fill in the gaps.
And those might be all the projects the Google Home developer team is currently working on. We went through the nearly a thousand responses but didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary other than the team’s promises.
Unfortunately, no launch date for any of these features or a roadmap has been provided, so we don’t know when these updates will arrive. But if and when they do come out, they will first be made available through Google Home’s public preview. Instructions on how to participate in the program can be found on the website Nest Help website.
Check out Ny Breaking’s list of the best smart speakers for 2024 if you’re looking to upgrade.