Works with Nest changes - What does this mean for us?

Works with Nest changes

Dear Works with Nest developer,

Today, Nest and Google Home teams have joined forces and are now Google Nest, and we want to share some news about upcoming changes to Works with Nest that will affect your product integration.

Works with Nest was created in 2014, at a time when there was no central platform to manage and control Nest devices alongside other smart home devices. Since we introduced Works with Nest, the Google Assistant has evolved into a leading connected home platform, letting users manage all their connected home devices from Google, Nest, and third-party device partners in one place.

Moving forward, we will wind down the Works with Nest developer program on August 31, 2019, and focus on delivering a single consumer and developer experience through the Works with Google Assistant program.

As a Works with Nest developer, you and your users will no longer be able to access and control Nest devices once the Works with Nest APIs are turned off on August 31. Because we understand this may impact your users’ experience with our products, we want to notify you well in advance so you can prepare for these changes.

Important dates, information, and resources to help you through the transition:

• Works with Nest API deprecation date. Nest device APIs will be turned off August 31, 2019.
• Nest Account to Google Account migration. Early this summer, we will invite Nest Account holders to migrate to a Google Account to align our systems, accounts, and platforms.
- During account migration, users will be asked to remove their Works with Nest connections.
- Once migration is completed, all of their Works with Nest connections will no longer work. This action is not reversible.
• Works with Nest badge retirement. We are officially retiring the Works with Nest consumer-facing badge. If you are currently using the Works with Nest badge, we ask that you remove it no later than August 31. For packaging and hard marketing material, please remove it at your next revision.
• Service Shutdown Reminder. We will notify all Nest Account holders and developers by email at least 2 weeks before the Works with Nest service is turned off.
• For more detailed information, see our What’s Happening at Nest FAQ page. Please provide this link to customers who want to learn more about these changes.

We appreciate you being a partner of Works with Nest. We encourage you to visit the Actions on Google Smart Home developer site to learn how to integrate your devices or services with the Google Assistant.

Sincerely,

The Google Nest team

The current plugin appears to leverage "Works with Nest". So it seems likely (I'm just guessing) that code changes to the plugin will be necessary for it to continue to work when "Works with Nest" is shut down.

It certainly explains why Google/Nest stopped enhancing the "Works with Nest" API last year.

I just looked at my Nest account and was reminded that I also have Alexa registered to control my thermostat. I wonder whether Google will continue to allow Alexa devices to control the Nest Thermostat and/or whether Amazon would be willing to modify the existing skill if they did?

Reading into this article a little bit, it sounds like Nest integration will be off limits to all except "small numbers of thoroughly vetted partners". IFTTT integration was specifically listed as being broken. So it seems quite possible that unless there is some major backlash, Indigo may no longer be able to integrate with Nest at all once "Works with Nest" goes away.

https://variety.com/2019/digital/news/google-works-with-nest-discontinued-1203207335/

Even worse than changes being required to just keep the plugin working. From my understanding, all apps that read or write data from the API will stop working completely as Google no longer wish for developers to have access to this information. As the plugin reads and writes an enormous amount of data, it will no longer function at all after end of August. See link:

https://www.the-ambient.com/news/works- ... stant-1583

Very annoying - just spent some time developing python script to start Neato Vacuum when house triggers Away mode from Nest plugin. Time to start looking for some alternatives...

...aaaaaaaand the https://nestdevelopers.io site has been placed in read-only mode.

[jay (support)]

My guess? Google is positioning Google Nest as an alternative to Apple HomeKit, walled garden and all. It's not super surprising since they will be able to control the ecosystem much more closely that way. But it also means (much like HomeKit) that the integration possibilities will have to come from reverse engineering stuff (if that's even possible).

My fear with HomeKit and the reason I haven't installed HomeKit Bridge (which is based on reverse engineered protocols) is because I think at some point Apple is going to shut that down as well. I'd rather not become dependent on something that may go away at Apple's whim.

Thankfully, the only thing I do with Nest in Indigo is trigger a couple of things based on Nest Home/Away status. There are some other options for presence detection in the Indigo Plugin Store that I'll need to investigate. I'd just tie into my alarm system's "Armed Away" status, except that one of the things I was doing with Nest Home/Away was sending myself a reminder to arm the alarm...

The one other (Nest) thing I had hoped to do with Indigo was to augment Nest's lame scheduling routine for their temperature sensors. A 1970s-vintage programmable thermostat has better scheduling capability than what Nest has for the temperature sensors right now. They were promising to add the sensors to Works with Nest, and then they went silent on the topic about a year ago. Now we know why.

I’m disappointed by this, but it shows that Google just wants to “move things forward” and may not care, even if there is a massive backlash. While I’m still not a huge fan of IFTTT, breaking that level of integration will really piss off a lot of people. Hopefully they will have some sort of nice migration plan in place, especially for hubs like SmartThings and others.

I personally use this plugin to completely control my Nest, as I have found the functionality and scheduling within Nest to be a mess. I got the Nest 6 years ago this August, so I guess I’ll be replacing it with a generic Wi-Fi controllable thermostat, because remote control / integration is really all I want. Or maybe I’ll spring for an ecobee. We’ll see

“Airwave” is about the only “unique” Nest feature that is still enabled on the device itself.

Thanks very much to the person behind this plugin, and hopefully there’s a way forward with it, but possibly not.

And a big thanks to Matt and Jay for making (and continuing to improve) the best smart home software system ever devised.

Joe Dugandzic (Indigo user since 2011, and founder of Smarter Home Life)

My fear with HomeKit and the reason I haven't installed HomeKit Bridge (which is based on reverse engineered protocols) is because I think at some point Apple is going to shut that down as well. I'd rather not become dependent on something that may go away at Apple's whim.

I hope not, but I do fear that myself.

As for Nest I removed the couple of nest protect devices I had installed earlier this year and replaced them with ones tied to my alarm system instead because i had a feeling this was going to happen.

This is the problem with the cloudiness of things. Features can easily be stripped away resulting in a crippled or inoperable product.

I had one Nest thermostat (which I liked very much), which I sold the moment that Google bought the company.

I'm currently using Trane XL624 Zwave units, with all of the climate management being done by Indigo.

I don’t use Nest products, but for those that do, there may be a path forward with the upcoming Google Assistant local control API:
https://developers.google.com/actions/smarthome/local-home-sdk

Edit: Here’s a TechCrunch article that mentions the API - https://techcrunch.com/2019/05/07/google-launches-new-developer-tools-for-the-google-assistant/

Terry


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My fear with HomeKit and the reason I haven't installed HomeKit Bridge (which is based on reverse engineered protocols) is because I think at some point Apple is going to shut that down as well. I'd rather not become dependent on something that may go away at Apple's whim.

I hope not, but I do fear that myself.

This is the problem with the cloudiness of things. Features can easily be stripped away resulting in a crippled or inoperable product.

Same thought here. I want to stay with a system I control as much as possible. I would trust Apple a bit more then others, but still not enough to jump on HomeKit. At some point it will probably become impossible or very hard not to use big cloud based services but until tat day comes, i'm staying with Indigo and z-wave combination. It will probably become suspicious when you and/or your home is not in the cloud. "What do you have to hide?"

I want to believe that any attempt by apple to kill HomeBridge and others would result in a big enough revolt that they’d change their mind.. but it is disconcerting. That said.. the fact that they actually allow non certified devices in the first place means they made a conscious decision to allow them... so Mebbe it won’t happen. Then again Nest had a system they encouraged others to work with and then have ripped it out from under them so I guess it’s never a guarantee even if it’s official.

I want to believe that any attempt by apple to kill HomeBridge and others would result in a big enough revolt that they’d change their mind.. but it is disconcerting. That said.. the fact that they actually allow non certified devices in the first place means they made a conscious decision to allow them... so Mebbe it won’t happen. Then again Nest had a system they encouraged others to work with and then have ripped it out from under them so I guess it’s never a guarantee even if it’s official.

In the case of Nest/Google they've also said they are going to be more restrictive about who they allow into the ecosystem this time around. Not a good sign.

[jay (support)]

It will probably become suspicious when you and/or your home is not in the cloud. "What do you have to hide?"

I think there's a privacy backlash brewing given the constant flood of privacy related social media issues. In the U.S. at least, it may turn out that many/most people just really don't care, but I think some company at some point is going to push too far and it'll spark a real backlash.