Author Archives: Ruchi Desai

The new Nest Thermostat: more energy savings for more people

Nest launched its first smart thermostat almost ten years ago, bringing energy savings to people’s homes in a sleek, beautiful design. Today we’re continuing that tradition with the Nest Thermostat, an easy to use, energy-saving thermostat that you can control from anywhere with the Google Home app. It can even monitor your heating and cooling system and detect potential issues early, all for just $129. 


We built this thermostat because people want to use less energy at home, whether to save money or help the environment. But most people are still using the decades-old thermostat that came with their house. To many, smart thermostats still seem too expensive—something that would be nice to have, but not something for their home. So we set out to change that—here’s what you can expect from the new Nest Thermostat.  

More ways to help you save energy

Saving energy is the biggest reason people consider upgrading from a programmable thermostat, and the new Nest Thermostat can help find ways to save that aren’t possible with your traditional one.


Quick Schedule (found in the Home app) lets you set a custom temperature at different times and on different days, and it even offers suggested pre-set temperatures that balance comfort and energy saving. You can adjust your settings anytime from the app. 


With Savings Finder, Nest Thermostat is constantly looking for small optimizations that will help you save energy in your home. It proactively suggests small tweaks to your schedule that you can accept using the Home app. For example, it might suggest a small change to your sleep temperature to help aid sleep while saving you more on energy. 


Finally, the Nest Thermostat can help you avoid heating or cooling an empty house. It uses Soli technology for motion sensing and your phone’s location to check if you’ve left the house and automatically sets itself to an Eco temperature so you don’t waste energy when you’re not there. 

Easy to install, set-up and use

You can install your own Nest Thermostat in 30 minutes or less. It works in the majority of houses, and you can check if it works in your home before purchasing with our online Compatibility Checker. And in addition to the Home app, you can also control the thermostat with your voice using Google Assistant on your Nest speaker or display, or with Alexa on other smart devices.
Person using Nest Thermostat

Nest Thermostat gets rid of the hard-to-read screen and tiny buttons on traditional thermostats. You can swipe and tap the side of the thermostat to manually adjust the temperature.

Clean, simple and sustainable design

The Nest Thermostat has a sleek design and comes in a variety of colors to complement any home: Snow, Charcoal, Sand and Fog. And while we know some people will want to do their own touch-up painting when they remove their old thermostat, we’re now offering a Nest Thermostat Trim Kit, designed to cover any imperfections on the wall in perfectly matched Nest Thermostat colors. 

Nest Thermostat in four colors

The Nest Thermostat is also designed with recycled materials, continuing our commitment to sustainability. Its plastic parts contain 49 percent recycled post-consumer plastic, and the Trim Kit is made from 75 percent recycled post-consumer plastic.

Helpful alerts to keep an eye on your heating and cooling system

Homeowners know how critical heating and cooling systems are, and if they break, they can be expensive to replace. With HVAC monitoring, your Nest Thermostat looks out for potential issues to make sure everything’s running smoothly with your HVAC system. 


If your Nest Thermostat notices that something’s not right, it sends an alert via the Home app or email. From there, you can schedule a visit from a qualified technician through our partner Handy to find someone in your area with preferred pricing, flexible online scheduling and money-back guarantee. This feature will start rolling out to all eligible Nest thermostats in the U.S. and Canada later this month with the ability to book a pro available in most markets.

Get a Nest Thermostat for less 

Like our other thermostats, the Nest Thermostat qualifies for energy efficiency rebates from utility providers across the country, making it possible to get one for even less. You can check for eligible rebates and offers through the Google Store in the rebate checker. And depending on your utility, you may be able to purchase a Nest Thermostat with the rebate applied at checkout on Google store or on your utility marketplace.

Where and when

You can pre-order the Nest Thermostat starting today, and it will be available in the coming weeks for $129.99 in the U.S. and $179.99 in Canada on the Google Store and select retailers, including Best Buy and Home Depot, with the Trim Kit sold separately at those same locations ($14.99 in the U.S. and $19.99 in Canada). 

The new Nest Thermostat: more energy savings for more people

Nest launched its first smart thermostat almost ten years ago, bringing energy savings to people’s homes in a sleek, beautiful design. Today we’re continuing that tradition with the Nest Thermostat, an easy to use, energy-saving thermostat that you can control from anywhere with the Google Home app. It can even monitor your heating and cooling system and detect potential issues early, all for just $129. 


We built this thermostat because people want to use less energy at home, whether to save money or help the environment. But most people are still using the decades-old thermostat that came with their house. To many, smart thermostats still seem too expensive—something that would be nice to have, but not something for their home. So we set out to change that—here’s what you can expect from the new Nest Thermostat.  

More ways to help you save energy

Saving energy is the biggest reason people consider upgrading from a programmable thermostat, and the new Nest Thermostat can help find ways to save that aren’t possible with your traditional one.


Quick Schedule (found in the Home app) lets you set a custom temperature at different times and on different days, and it even offers suggested pre-set temperatures that balance comfort and energy saving. You can adjust your settings anytime from the app. 


With Savings Finder, Nest Thermostat is constantly looking for small optimizations that will help you save energy in your home. It proactively suggests small tweaks to your schedule that you can accept using the Home app. For example, it might suggest a small change to your sleep temperature to help aid sleep while saving you more on energy. 


Finally, the Nest Thermostat can help you avoid heating or cooling an empty house. It uses Soli technology for motion sensing and your phone’s location to check if you’ve left the house and automatically sets itself to an Eco temperature so you don’t waste energy when you’re not there. 

Easy to install, set-up and use

You can install your own Nest Thermostat in 30 minutes or less. It works in the majority of houses, and you can check if it works in your home before purchasing with our online Compatibility Checker. And in addition to the Home app, you can also control the thermostat with your voice using Google Assistant on your Nest speaker or display, or with Alexa on other smart devices.
Person using Nest Thermostat

Nest Thermostat gets rid of the hard-to-read screen and tiny buttons on traditional thermostats. You can swipe and tap the side of the thermostat to manually adjust the temperature.

Clean, simple and sustainable design

The Nest Thermostat has a sleek design and comes in a variety of colors to complement any home: Snow, Charcoal, Sand and Fog. And while we know some people will want to do their own touch-up painting when they remove their old thermostat, we’re now offering a Nest Thermostat Trim Kit, designed to cover any imperfections on the wall in perfectly matched Nest Thermostat colors. 

Nest Thermostat in four colors

The Nest Thermostat is also designed with recycled materials, continuing our commitment to sustainability. Its plastic parts contain 49 percent recycled post-consumer plastic, and the Trim Kit is made from 75 percent recycled post-consumer plastic.

Helpful alerts to keep an eye on your heating and cooling system

Homeowners know how critical heating and cooling systems are, and if they break, they can be expensive to replace. With HVAC monitoring, your Nest Thermostat looks out for potential issues to make sure everything’s running smoothly with your HVAC system. 


If your Nest Thermostat notices that something’s not right, it sends an alert via the Home app or email. From there, you can schedule a visit from a qualified technician through our partner Handy to find someone in your area with preferred pricing, flexible online scheduling and money-back guarantee. This feature will start rolling out to all eligible Nest thermostats in the U.S. and Canada later this month with the ability to book a pro available in most markets.

Get a Nest Thermostat for less 

Like our other thermostats, the Nest Thermostat qualifies for energy efficiency rebates from utility providers across the country, making it possible to get one for even less. You can check for eligible rebates and offers through the Google Store in the rebate checker. And depending on your utility, you may be able to purchase a Nest Thermostat with the rebate applied at checkout on Google store or on your utility marketplace.

Where and when

You can pre-order the Nest Thermostat starting today, and it will be available in the coming weeks for $129.99 in the U.S. and $179.99 in Canada on the Google Store and select retailers, including Best Buy and Home Depot, with the Trim Kit sold separately at those same locations ($14.99 in the U.S. and $19.99 in Canada). 

5 things to know about the new Nest Aware

We’re all spending more time at home these days, and for many of us, that means investing time in our personal spaces and trying to check in on loved ones as much as possible. For Google Nest users, that’s getting a little easier: Starting this week, the new Nest Aware is rolling out to 19 markets. The subscription service is a helpful, affordable companion to all of your Google Nest devices whether you’re home or away. 

And even though many of us are home far more often right now, we have several features that make life at home a little easier. Here’s what to expect from the new Nest Aware:


  1. More affordable, simplified pricing. Instead of paying per camera, all of your devices per home—including your cameras, speakers and displays—are covered for one low price, even when you add a new device. For just $6 a month (or $60 for an annual subscription), the new Nest Aware comes with 30 days of event video history. Or, for those who want 24/7 video history, you can choose Nest Aware Plus for 60 days of event video history and 10 days of 24/7 video history for $12 per month (or $120 for an annual subscription).
  2. Get alerts that matter. With the new Nest Aware, now your devices will start recording event clips when they detect motion or sound and give you the clips you need to see. When something happens that needs your attention—like a package being delivered—we’ll send you an alert. If you prefer 24/7 continuous recording, for example, on your outdoor camera during the night, that’s also still available with Nest Aware Plus.
  3. Keep an eye on your home and quickly connect to emergency services.Now, your Nest speakers and displays will notify you if a critical sound is detected, like a smoke alarm or glass breaking, by sending an alert to the Home app. From there, you can hear an audio clip or listen live within the Home app to confirm the alarm, and the new Nest Aware gives you the option to call 911 emergency services straight from the Home app (U.S. only). Calling directly from your phone will connect you to the center nearest to you, which isn’t always helpful when you’re away. But calling from the Home app will give you the center closest to home, no matter where you are.
  4. Take care of loved ones. If your elderly parent or relative has a Nest Hub Max, not only can they stay in touch with loved ones through Duo video calling, but you can also look out for them with the new Nest Aware. All they have to do is invite you as a home member and enable their speaker or display, and you’ll get notifications if something needs your attention.
  5. Easily upgrade from old to new. If you already have an existing Nest Aware subscription, you can upgrade to the new version through the Google Store. Keep in mind that upgrading to the new Nest Aware requires that you migrate to a Google accountif you haven’t already. You also have the option to keep your current subscription if you choose.

In addition to rolling out the new Nest Aware, we’ve updated pricing for some of our products to make it even easier to bring more help into your home: Starting today, Nest Hub is available for $89.99 and Nest Cam Indoor is now $129.99. We hope the new Nest Aware helps you save a little more, care for your loved ones and know that all is well in the place you call home.

Keep an eye (and ear) on your home with the new Nest Aware

To make your home more helpful, we want to make it easier for you to stay up to date about what’s happening in your home, giving you peace of mind wherever the day takes you. For the last few years, we’ve been delivering on that goal through our Nest Aware service, which, combined with our Nest Cams, provides intelligent alerts and camera history. Today we’re announcing the new Nest Aware, which will soon offer whole home awareness across more of your Nest devices at one affordable monthly rate.

One price for your entire home

We heard that our Nest Aware pricing can get a little expensive and complicated, so we’re introducing a simple whole home pricing model. Instead of paying separately for each camera, the new Nest Aware will include all cameras, speakers and displays in your home for one low price, with even more video and event history. 

We’re also introducing event-based recording, a new service built into both Nest Aware plans that starts recording only when your camera detects motion or sounds, like a dog barking or a person seen on camera, and sends you an alert so you can take action or watch the event clips at a later time. This new service will be offered alongside our existing 24/7 continuous video recording, where you can scan through your entire video history to see everything before, during, and after an event. 

You can choose from two simple plans: Nest Aware, with 30 days of event video history, at $6 per month (or $60 for an annual subscription), or Nest Aware Plus, with 60 days of event video history and 10 days of 24/7 video history, at $12 per month (or $120 for an annual subscription).

Nest Aware Sound Detection

More helpful alerts that matter 

Nest Aware coverage is expanding to include Nest and Google Home speakers and displays. Now you can enable these devices to be your ears when you’re away. They’ll listen for critical sounds, like smoke or carbon monoxide alarms, and send an alert to your phone. You then have the option to hear the audio clip or listen live to confirm the alarm.

Expanded sound detection is a big step forward in the kind of help we can provide, and it’s designed from the ground up to respect your privacy in your home. Sound detection happens entirely on your device, and your Nest devices will light up to provide a visual indicator when an event is being recorded and sent to Google so you can review it. You can also review and delete audio clips at any time in your Home app.

Emergency calling at your fingertips

If a speaker or display picks up a smoke alarm sound and sends an alert on your phone, now with Nest Aware the Home app will allow you to call the 911 emergency services closest to your home, even if you’re far away. If you just dial 911 directly from your phone when you're away, you might get connected to a call center that can't dispatch to where you live. And in those emergency moments, the last thing you want to do is scramble to find your home’s local emergency dispatcher.

If you happen to be home and can’t get to your phone right away, say, “OK Google, call 9-1-1” to any Google Nest or Home speaker or display covered by your Nest Aware subscription. 

Everything you need to know, in one place

Early next year, we're launching the Home Feed in the Google Home app. It brings together all the events and notifications from your devices, with a general recap of the day and recent events in your home in one place. You can scroll through your prioritized events, watch full video clips or listen to audio clips—and always have peace of mind.

When and where

The new Nest Aware is coming early next year to the 19 countries where Nest Aware is currently available, and it will be easy to switch over your existing plans. Expanded coverage to Nest speakers and displays with sound detection and emergency calling will initially be available in the U.S. only. With simplified pricing and whole home awareness across more devices, Nest Aware is now more helpful and affordable than ever.

Find the perfect playlist to stream with the Google Home app

Finding the right song, album or playlist can make anything you do during your day that much more enjoyable. Maybe start your day off with a cup of coffee and some Relaxing Film Scores. Want something more upbeat? Get a pick-me-up with Rave-Up Wake-Up: EDM Morning. Need to make dinner? How about some Classic Bossa Nova or Today’s Biggest Hits? All told there are more than 40 million songs available, on 200+ cast-compatible music and audio apps, to listen to on your favorite speakers.

ListenTab_GoogleHomeApp

That’s a lot of music to choose from, so today we’re making it easier for you to find the perfect playlist, album or artist to listen to with the new Listen tab in the Google Home app, a dedicated space for all your favorite music.

The new Listen tab shows you curated lists of ready-to-stream, personalized albums and playlists from your favorite music apps, like Google Play Music and Spotify. You’ll also find compatible music and audio apps you already have on your phone or tablet, as well as a section to discover new apps to download.

So whether you’re looking for an upbeat playlist to listen to while you cook, or a something to unwind after dinner, the Google Home app is ready to help you find the perfect entertainment to cast to your TV or speakers.

To download the Google Home app, go to the Google Play Store or the App Store, or to learn more about the Listen tab, head to this Chromecast Help Center article.

Find the perfect playlist to stream with the Google Home app

Finding the right song, album or playlist can make anything you do during your day that much more enjoyable. Maybe start your day off with a cup of coffee and some Relaxing Film Scores. Want something more upbeat? Get a pick-me-up with Rave-Up Wake-Up: EDM Morning. Need to make dinner? How about some Classic Bossa Nova or Today’s Biggest Hits? All told there are more than 40 million songs available, on 200+ cast-compatible music and audio apps, to listen to on your favorite speakers.

ListenTab_GoogleHomeApp

That’s a lot of music to choose from, so today we’re making it easier for you to find the perfect playlist, album or artist to listen to with the new Listen tab in the Google Home app, a dedicated space for all your favorite music.

The new Listen tab shows you curated lists of ready-to-stream, personalized albums and playlists from your favorite music apps, like Google Play Music and Spotify. You’ll also find compatible music and audio apps you already have on your phone or tablet, as well as a section to discover new apps to download.

So whether you’re looking for an upbeat playlist to listen to while you cook, or a something to unwind after dinner, the Google Home app is ready to help you find the perfect entertainment to cast to your TV or speakers.

To download the Google Home app, go to the Google Play Store or the App Store, or to learn more about the Listen tab, head to this Chromecast Help Center article.

Meet the new Google Home app (previously the Google Cast app)

new Google Home app logo

If you’ve opened the Google Cast app recently, you might have noticed we’ve been hinting at some exciting changes. With the recent announcement of Google Home, our new voice-activated speaker, we are renaming the Google Cast app to the Google Home app. So you now have a one-stop destination to manage your compatible home devices. On top of the new name, we gave it a new icon, made the app easier to use, and added some useful new features.

Google Home app UI

New design to make it even easier to watch & discover.

Using the Watch tab, you can discover trending and popular video content on your Chromecast-enabled apps like HBO Now, Netfilx, Hulu, YouTube, and Google Play Movies.

The Discover tab lets you explore a library of 1000+ apps that work with Chromecast, as well as the latest offers, features, and tips.

And you can search and browse for content across Chromecast-enabled apps right in the Google Home app anytime -- just look for the magnifying glass icon in the bottom right hand corner.

Control and manage your Chromecast and Google Home devices.

The Google Home app is also your one place to control and manage all your Chromecast and Google Home devices. Tap the Devices icon in the top right of the home screen to easily set up a new device, control playback or adjust Backdrop settings on your TV, and more.

Google Home app Device Management

The Google Home app will be coming this week on Google Play and the App Store, so keep your eyes open on your homescreen or app drawer for the new app icon. And stay tuned for more updates with the app as Google Home becomes available in the US in early November.