Google offers Dropcam and Nest Secure owners an upgrade as support ends soon

If you picked up a Dropcam or a Nest Secure many years ago, Google is offering you an upgrade to a currently supported device as it seeks to drop support for these Nest App-only smart home products. If you own either of these, look for an email from Google offering you some new smart home products.

Dropping Dropcam support

Dropcam launched the Dropcam HD in 2012 and the Dropcam Pro in 2013. The products were marketed as simple home security and surveillance solutions, and to that end, they delivered.

Complications arose when Google’s Nest bought Dropcam in 2014. A year later, Google spun Nest out of itself in the great Alphabet reorganization. But then, Nest was reabsorbed into Google in 2018. In the middle of all of this, both Google and Nest were making smart home hardware. Shortly after, Google decided to integrate Nest products into the Google Home app. As collateral damage to all of this business shuffling and reorganization, products that couldn’t be integrated into the Google Home app would be killed off, which is what is happening here with Dropcam.

As Google announced in a Nest Community post, the company is dropping support for Dropcam HD and Dropcam Pro on April 8, 2024. That is a year away, and until then, all current features will remain functional. But post-April 2024, Dropcam devices will no longer work.

Starting April 8, 2024, your Dropcam will no longer work. You won’t be able to use the Nest app to check the status of your Dropcam, view live streams, receive notifications, or change settings.

For the inconvenience, Google is offering Dropcam owners who remain subscribed to Nest Aware an indoor wired Nest Cam. If you own two or more Dropcams, you will be offered up to two units. If you are not a Nest Aware subscriber, then Google will offer you a 50% discount on a new Nest Cam.

Google is also offering consumers in the US a postage-paid shipping label to recycle the Dropcam if they request one.

Nest Secure meets the same fate

The Nest Secure was launched in 2017, prior to Google’s investment in home security company ADT. The product was canceled in 2020, and now, support for the same will be dropped on April 8, 2024.

Starting April 8, 2024 support will stop for Nest Secure. Until that date, all current features will remain available and you can continue using your Nest Secure as you do now. After that date, your Nest Secure will no longer be accessible in the Nest app.

For users inconvenienced by this change, Google is offering a Self Setup System from ADT. This includes an ADT Smart Home Hub, 2x Door/Window Sensors, and a motion sensor. This also includes 12 months of free professional alarm monitoring, costing $19.99 plus tax per month afterward. If you prefer self-monitoring, you can cancel and use the product without a subscription.

If you don’t want to take up that offer, you can opt for a $200 credit on the Google Store to use against other products. Google will be sending a unique redemption code to your email, and depending on the route you wish to take, you will have to contact ADT or Google Store support and furnish this code to them.

Works with Nest won’t work either

Google discontinued the Works with Nest program in 2019 and replaced it with the Works with Google Assistant program. That change did not affect existing connections. But that window is now closing on September 29, 2023.

This does not impact a lot of users, since the legacy program hadn’t been accepting new integrations for several years now. But there will be some legacy solutions that will be impacted by this. Google has promised a web-based Google Home script editor as the alternative for these solutions, but that is still scheduled to arrive sometime this year.

Discontinuing support for subscription-tied hardware is definitely tricky, and more so when it comes to smart home products. No one really likes to swap out functional appliances in their home simply because of a company’s business reorganization. Hopefully, Google’s olive branch to existing users would help soothe any pain that this end-of-life will inflict.