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Google stops selling Nest Secure, still offers support

47 points| bricestacey | 5 years ago |support.google.com

75 comments

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MattGaiser|5 years ago

I wonder, how many people consider Google products for something and go with another provider because you can't count on the product to exist long term?

thomdoenas|5 years ago

I bought a nest secure system for my parents home since the system was more advanced then ADT and we already had the nest thermostat. I didn’t think Google would stop their support for the system since it was a hardware product and believed they were aiming for a HomeKit ecosystem. Hindsight, I was very wrong and I am now extremely disappointed. There is an obvious amount of opportunity here but I guess with all the monopoly talk, this doesn’t fit their product value and growth strategy. You can’t count on google for expensive consumer products that do not fit within their core search product or have some affiliation to keeping you retained to their core search product.

parhamn|5 years ago

I wonder this as well but outside the HN community. I don’t think many folks I know still attribute Google with the flakiness that this community does.

programmertote|5 years ago

I was tempted to buy a Chromecast Ultra because my Roku does not support Peacock app.

BUT I stopped short of buying it because I have Google home mini which never seems to be able to register my preferred temperature unit (Celcius) regardless of how many times I have tried on its not-so-intuitive home app (plus can no longer connect to its Bluetooth for playing YouTube videos for example). That and reading a bunch of news/comments like this thread helps me make a fairly quick decision to not purchase Chromecast.

I sincerely hope Google CEO or someone who really cares about their org's reputation see people complaining about their product strategy. They should learn how to keep what's working and most importantly, to not venture into anything unless they can commit to it for at least 10 years. Of course, they have their cash cow, which is the advertising/search unit, so maybe they'll never care.

ksk|5 years ago

Not only that, Google has a reputation on spying on users. Why would you want any more Google devices in your home that are always on and always reporting to the mother-ship? Especially ones with cameras, microphones etc.

iagovar|5 years ago

Well, I do, and I just advice the same to everyone that asks. I'm not very influential because I'm not a dev, but I do have business clients and I get asked sometimes.

I'm not in the US though.

gooftop|5 years ago

I’ve heard it come up in an enterprise context, when there was a question about using a Google product - “they have a history of killing products, so let’s pick an alternate if possible”. This was a couple of years back, don’t remember what (could have been Google Glass).

abawany|5 years ago

I pre-ordered the new (lower end) Nest thermostat and will likely also get the Pixel 4a 5G. I am a bit worried about them getting Cancellanched but oh well, life is full of adventures.

vikinglore|5 years ago

I have refused to sign up for Google Stadia for this reason. They want me to pay for games. But what happens when the service gets shut down?

rodgerd|5 years ago

Certainly the Google messenger saga vs iMessage was something that helped tip me to iOS when they killed Messenger.

randmeerkat|5 years ago

I’m still salty about Google Reader. I’ve been avoiding Google products ever since.

disillusioned|5 years ago

I own a Nest Secure and actually really really love it. It syncs with my Nest + Yale door locks, so when I keypad into my house, it auto-disarms, which is amazing. I don't carry keys with me anymore, and the lock is gorgeous.

It's also just _really_ nice. They put a lot of thoughtfulness into the Nest Detect motion/door open sensor. They filter out my dogs near perfectly. The voice warnings are great and useful. The keypad is nice. And it's integrated into the Nest app so I have a one-stop shop.

Google just invested $400M into ADT... so I have to believe these things are related. They also committed to re-manufacturing Nest Detects, so they're not _completely_ sunsetting this. I wonder if they have another version of this, or an ADT-linked version that just got delayed by pandemic, but they sold through their stock and decided to do this in the interim, but I feel like it's weird they wouldn't just announce that.

It's worth noting that the monitoring service for Nest Secure is NOT ADT, it's Brinks/Moni. So I wonder if that's a big part of their reasoning. They've put their money behind a direct competitor essentially, so maybe they don't want to feed money away from their new investment.

I'm more worried about the clear writing on the wall to spin down the Nest app. The Google Home duplicated work is simply no where near parity yet, and I fear it won't be for quite some time. When they eventually tell us they're sunsetting the Nest app (in a year or two, if I had to guess, maybe sooner?), I really hope they'll have the scrubber timeline view and maintain the auto-lock and such.

As someone who's bought fully into the Google Home/Nest ecosystem, but is also keenly aware of Google's penchant for Old Yellering the hell out of things... this doesn't really surprise me. But I hope they support it for a long time to come. It's a really nice system.

ec109685|5 years ago

Brinks is owned by ADT.

We said no to an ADT system since it was expensive and required two year contract and favored Nest secure instead, so this is disappointing.

It seems like Ring is in it to win it unlike Nest for some reason.

jonsolo|5 years ago

Is this another "Classic Google" move? I was considering a Nest security system a few years ago, and wasn't sure whether it was a plus or a minus that they're part of Google. I guess now it's shown to be a minus. It's nice that they're offering support, but buying Nest Secure means you're buying into the ecosystem and this is a big proclamation that the ecosystem is not growing.

abawany|5 years ago

Me too, re. Nest Secure - it seemed like a perfect no-contract product for managing security. It is a bizarre move given their investment/buyout (not sure) of ADP. Here's hoping Google's new year's resolution for 2021 is 'Reincarnation' and they start by bringing back all of the products they've killed, one by one (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagine_%28John_Lennon_song%29 .)

adoxyz|5 years ago

Exactly this. I bought the Nest Secure system a few years ago because I already had Nest thermostats and cameras, so security made sense and everything integrated well.

But now I really regret it. I have a 3 year deal w/ Google's partner for Nest Secure, and I wouldn't be surprised once those 3 years are up that they'll sunset the device completely.

So disappointed in Google.

nyokodo|5 years ago

I was a chump and invested in quite an expensive Nest Secure installation. I have actually really liked it so far, however this has shaken my confidence in trusting Google long-term with anything let alone a product they're not selling any longer. Any recommendations on an eventual replacement?

syntaxing|5 years ago

I'm on the same boat. I think the best alternative is Simplisafe and I regret not buying it over Nest Secure. I really liked the motion + door sensor for the Nest Secure and it's what originally won me over. Totally forgot to account for Google dropping products so quickly. I personally do not trust any Ring products, especially after the whole sharing data with Law Enforcement for "Neighborhood safety"

threatofrain|5 years ago

> We are committed to bringing our users the same feature and software support they’ve always had with Nest Secure, including existing cross-product integrations within the Nest ecosystem. We will also continue to deliver critical security updates and software fixes. Nest Secure owners shouldn’t notice any difference with their service.

tehlike|5 years ago

Homeasisstant + sensors or for simpler setup, smartthings + sensors. Works wonders.

RickJWagner|5 years ago

Wow. A short while ago I was evaluating home security systems and narrowed it to two. One of those was Nest.

I feel lucky today. I picked the other provider.

faitswulff|5 years ago

I wish the USA had laws mandating the usability of IoT hardware like this. Something like “right to repair,” but perhaps more aggressive.

ponker|5 years ago

They should just have to buy back the hardware if they don’t support it anymore, for some reasonable time frame of support (10 years?)

pgib|5 years ago

Damn. I just moved into a new place, and I was looking at getting the Nest Secure, as the ADT systems seem to archaic to me.

Does anyone know of any comparable, high-tech systems?

txsoftwaredev|5 years ago

Ring and SimpliSafe are two other options that offer similar services and hardware.

stefan_|5 years ago

Launched 2017 for a measly $499

kerng|5 years ago

What is Nest Secure? Is this what people call the "Nest" or some subsystem of it?

kerng|5 years ago

Wow, why is a question downvoted? Sorry, I really don't know if Nest Secure is what everyone calls Nest or not.

Instead of downvoting a simple yes or no would have been more helpful for me. I still don't know the answer by the way, but as far as I can tell from reading up its the same. In case anyone else is wondering also.