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Having trouble with your older-generation Nest smart thermostats? As of Oct. 25, Google is no longer providing software updates for its oldest devices.
The first- and second-gen Nest Learning Thermostats will no longer connect to or work in the Google Nest app or Google Home app, Google says, effectively turning them back into dumb devices with little to no smart connectivity.
You can still use them to manually adjust your home's temperature, but you can't control them via your smartphone or get notifications about settings or bugs. This also kills any third-party device or assistant support, so check any automation routines you might have set up.
Google sent emails to the affected owners about the shutdown. It offered a newer model for $149.99, which is just over half the standard price of $280.
On the Nest subreddit, many question why they would purchase a new Nest thermostat when there are no guarantees it will work in the future. Others have suggested that people should know that smart functionality is not guaranteed forever; the affected devices date back to 2011 and 2014, after all. Others counter that if they wanted a dumb thermostat that didn't connect to their devices, they'd have bought one for $20, not almost $300.
They also argue that there's nothing particularly complicated about connecting a device like a smart thermostat to your phone, so Google should be able to handle that. One community project, dubbed No Longer Evil, is trying to do that on its own.
Top-Rated Nest Thermostat Alternatives
The cynical argument is that this is planned obsolescence, and Google merely wants to encourage users to buy the newer hardware. If you're ready to upgrade, however, here are some of the smart thermostats we recommend.