Google Ends Support for Early Nest Thermostats, Degrading Their Functionality ⇥ arstechnica.com

Ryan Whitwam, Ars Technica:

As Google points out, these products have had a long life, and they’re not being rendered totally inoperable. Come October 25, 2025, these devices will no longer receive software updates or connect to Google’s cloud services. That means you won’t be able to control them from the Google Home app or via Assistant (or more likely Gemini by that point). The devices will still work as a regular dumb thermostat to control temperature, and scheduling will remain accessible from the thermostat’s screen.

Google stopped selling the second-generation Nest Thermostat in 2015. A ten-year lifespan may be acceptable by consumer electronics standards, it is not impressive for a thermostat. And, while a typical programmable thermostat might slowly fail on its own accord, it is disconcerting that Google can simply pull the plug on its smart features.

This is, however, a fairly graceful degradation of its functionality, all things considered. Nests will apparently continue to work like a programmable thermostat. Also, after Ecobee ended support for its earliest thermostat models last year, it sounded like newer models’ HomeKit integration would allow smart features to keep working when Ecobee discontinues those, too. It would be better if Google could have done something similar with the Nest. It is not encouraging for the smart home fantasy.