Homebuilders are abandoning Nest products after forced Google account migration

What you need to know
- Nest accounts are being merged into Google accounts by the end of the year.
- The Works with Nest program is being abandoned in favor of Works with Assistant, which is causing issues with many connected devices.
- Homebuilders are concerned with the amount of personal data that needs to be shared with Google and whether or not their customers want to be locked into the Google ecosystem.
Some of Google Nest's biggest partners seem to be leaving the Nest, according to a report by Bloomberg. That group of folks includes homebuilders of all kinds, from private residences to large apartment complexes, and it's all based on Google's decision to replace the Works With Nest system with its own Works With Assistant one.
Since its announcement at Google I/O 2019 in May, Google has been trying to get users to merge their Nest accounts with their Google accounts. This move has caused a lot of headaches for users who already have multiple smart home gadgets enrolled in the Works With Nest program, a program designed to bridge the gap between smart home devices manufactured by multiple companies. Google is working on sophisticated solutions to fix this problem, but the larger issue of being integrated with Google Assistant appears to be the inherent problem for some homebuilders.
Builders who feel shunned by Google Nest's moves seem to fall into two main categories. The first of which are those concerned with privacy, citing the fact that Google Assistant requires more privacy permissions to be granted than the previous Nest service did. This automatically creates distrust for many people who are rightfully concerned that too much of their personal data is being accessed at any given point in time.
Others are concerned over the capabilities of virtual assistants and whether or not they can handle the workload or commands needed to bridge several different smart home devices together. We've seen from the Made by Google 2019 event that Google has been working hard to beef up Assistant's abilities over the years and provides connectivity to over 30,000 different kinds of devices without any real hassle.
This means the second group of builders may just need a bit of a pep talk from Google Nest reps regarding Assistant's capabilities, but it still proves that Google has several hurdles to overcome in its goal of getting everything under a Google roof. Either way, requiring a Google account in any capacity seems to be a pain point for builders who are worried that consumers won't appreciate being stuck into a Google ecosystem if they've already invested in a competing smart home ecosystem, while the previous Nest ecosystem was platform-agnostic.
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Also what really sucks about Nest products now is the fact that those of us who are running some open-source home automation system like Home Assistant or OpenHab, which gives you much more freedom and features now have no possible way to use Nest products with it. Now with manufacturers closing their APIs, locking their products to only their ecosystem I am kinda afraid where this is gonna go.
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" Now with manufacturers closing their APls, locking their products to only their ecosystem " Sounds exactly like what Apple does to lock you in. To make it worse, Apple can get away with anything and still be the most valuable company.
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Apple is not the most valuable company. But I get your point
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If you are going to call someone out, at least fact-checked yourself. As of this past Friday Apple took back the most valuable company crown. So cribble2k is spot on with his comment and you are wrong.
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I wouldn't buy a nest either if i am forced to use a Google account.
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You do realize Google owns Nest right? You don't think they already had your data?
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Yeah... It's like all the people who proudly declare that they deleted their Facebook account because they can't be trusted, then give you their Instagram lol.
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Google assistant gets more permissions. I know they're the same company in the end. I want different accounts so don't connect all the data to the same individual. Too much power
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The power is alone in your hand. Just don't use that crap! There is absolutely no reason to use IOTs!
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WRONG. I have MS and using IoT is probably one thing that keeps me running... But hey, you decided that IoT is bad for EVERYONE...
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So, the concerns of the first set of partners in the article are valid.
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With Google being punched in the face for privacy issues daily, they have implemented the most control over your privacy settings in years.
What sucks is you have to do the work and learn it. Or just ***** and complain that it's too hard, because you just cant plug it in and expect it to be secure for your desire.