After several years of service, Google will drop support for Nest Secure and Dropcam on April 8th, 2024. These products cannot migrate to Google Home, hence the need for a retirement. Thankfully, Google is contacting affected customers to offer compensation.
While this news is a bit disappointing, we’re surprised that it didn’t come earlier. The Dropcam, originally called Dropcam HD, first launched in 2012. And Nest Secure came out in 2017, several years before Google formed its relationship with ADP. Of course, Nest Secure was discontinued back in 2020, and very few people even remember that Dropcam existed.
Along with the death of Dropcam and Nest Secure, Google plans to shut off all remaining Works with Nest services on September 29th, 2023. No surprise here—Works with Nest hasn’t been relevant in a long time, though it’s still responsible for some home automations. Google notes that its home automation script editor, which was announced last October, should be able to take the place of any Works with Nest automations you’re still using.
And this brings us to an important point; Google seems to be opening a new chapter in its smart home journey. The company says that its script editor will launch “in the coming months,” and presumably, the long-awaited Google Home update will arrive with it. Additionally, Google is embracing the Matter standard, which could resolve longstanding smart home problems (like product incompatibilities and confusing setup processes).
Again, Dropcam and Nest Secure will stop working on April 8th, 2024. Google will offer remaining Dropcam users a 50% discount on a Nest Cam (or a free Nest Cam if you join Nest Aware). Remaining Nest Secure users get a $200 gift card to the Google Store or a “next-gen security system” from ADT (likely the smart home-integrated system that Google announced on March 28th).
Source: Google
