What you need to know
- Works with Nest third-party integrations will continue to work after August 31, 2019.
- After August 31, no new recipes will be able to be added to the Works with Nest program.
- Google is working to add the popular features from WWN to its Works with Google Assistant program.
Google has announced it will delay the end of the Works with Nest to Works program. Originally, the WWN program was scheduled to end on August 31, 2019, and customers would have had to convert their Nest accounts into Google accounts.
The reason for the delay is because it would have broken many smart home automations customers have come to rely on. For example, you would have lost the ability to have your lights turn off when you leave home, or to view your Nest cams on Alexa smart displays.
In the meantime, Google will no longer force you to convert your accounts by the August 31 date, and your smart home will continue functioning with third-party products like it always has. However, after the August 31 date, you will no longer be able to make any new recipes for automation in the Works with Nest program.
The delay will give Google more time to work with companies like Amazon to ensure you'll be able to use your Nest cams with its devices in the future, as well as working on ways to trigger routines based on your home/away status.
This all comes after we learned last week at Google I/O that Nest and Google smart home teams were coming together to form one brand called Google Nest. The merger will allow for greater integration of Google's suite of products and the Google Assistant platform, as well as better security.
After the transition is complete, Google will continue working with third-party partners for custom integrations. It will also subject all third-party partners to security audits to control how your data is shared or used.
Along with the audits, Google will put more control into your hands by allowing you to choose which specific devices you want to share with these partners. A prime example of this is allowing a service or device access to your front door camera, but not the camera in your nursery.
The Nest Hub grows up
The Nest Hub Max takes everything that was great about the original Nest Hub and makes it bigger. The screen is larger, the speakers are larger, and it even includes a camera for making video calls.
