John Paul M. Joaquin Tech 08.25.2023 06:Aug AM EDT

Google Rolls Out App Support for Older Nest Cams

There is now hope for first-gen indoor Google Nest cams.

Google has recently opened a public preview of its latest Google Home app to try its new features, including support for older Nest Cams before they're released to the public.

Interested Google Nest Cam users can join and leave Google's public preview at any time.

Backward Compatibility For Google Nest Cams

Google is a bit late on its own promise. According to a report from The Verge, the search giant promised in its recent I/O developer conference it was giving users the ability to access Nest Cam Indoor and Nest Cam Outdoor devices through its new Home application.

Fortunately, Google proves that late results are better than nothing at all. It has officially opened a public preview for its latest Google Home app that comes with the previously mentioned ability, allowing those interested in trying it out like in an open beta.

Unlike an open beta, however, Google's public preview gives those who signed up for it an early look at a finished product instead of a work in progress. However, Gizmodo reports that the upcoming update to the Google Home app is, technically, still in its testing phase.

Nevertheless, as long as a user is on Google Home's public preview, they can access their first-gen Nest Cam Indoor device through the app and enjoy its new features, per Engadget. They can even access and enjoy the app's updated camera history experience and add the camera to their Favorites tab for easier access.

(Photo : Google)
a picture of a first-gen indoor Google Nest camera.

Unfortunately, the update will take a few weeks for it to hit publicly; Google has yet to announce when it will become available to the public. Regardless, the update is a boon for older Google Nest Cam users who couldn't consolidate the features and functions of the Nest app to the Google Home app.

Since the upcoming Google Home app update will consolidate the features and functions of the Nest app with Google Home, the search giant decided it will soon deprecate and end support the former. However, once the transition is complete, Nest app users can no longer use the app to access their cameras, whether they have the updated Google Home app while in early preview or not.

Google Nest Cam History

Google released its first-gen Nest cameras sometime in the second half of 2015, per Google's blog post at the time. It is the lovechild between Dropcam, Google's then-latest acquisition, and Nest, allowing its users to be notified if someone was breaking in, whose footprints belong to whom, and keep an eye on the kids and pets.

It released its second-gen Nest cams on Aug. 24, 2021, to much success. It is the search giant's first battery-powered camera capable of working indoors and outdoors, per Consumer Reports.

The cameras can record high dynamic range video, offer voice control via Google Assistant, and feature built-in artificial intelligence to recognize and alert users to people, animals, vehicles, and packages.

It can even record when power or internet outages happen thanks to its "local storage fallback." Thanks to this feature, Google Nest cameras record and save up to an hour of video and upload it once power and internet access are restored.