Nest Hub interface tweak introduces an annoying side effect for security cam owners
The Google Home app’s visual refresh hasstarted to appear for those who have joined the public preview, promising fewer taps to get what they’re looking for as well as more customization options. The makeover includes a new “Favorites” tab where you can pin your Nest cameras for quicker access to the live feed; no additional taps are needed. However, the same cannot be said for a recent update to theGoogle Nest Hub’sinterface, which makes viewing your camera feeds a chore.
Google appears to have slipped a new tweak into the smart display’s user interface, removing the separate “Locks” and “Cameras” pages that were previously housed under the “Home control” tab. The new design combines those pages into a single destination called “Security,” which is intended to provide quick access to information such as the status of your Nest Guard security system, as per9to5Google.
The unified hub also encompasses the preview of your live Nest cameras or any othergreat outdoor security camera for your smart home. However, the update has seemingly removed the dedicated list of devices, which you could access with a single tap in the previous interface. Instead, that option has been tucked away under a submenu.
This means you’ll have to spend more time than before navigating to the live camera feeds with a few more taps. Unless you summonGoogle Assistant, accessing your backyard feed or living room camera will take a little longer than it used to.
And as though those weren’t enough to frustrate you, the new update makes it impossible to preview camera feeds from olderNest Cammodels. 9to5 also notes that loading the live feeds from newer camera models is sluggish in the updated interface.
While it’s long overdue for Google to make even minor changes to the Nest Hub’s interface, unwelcome side effects like this detract from the overall experience, which we hope will be addressed in the near future. That said, it will be some time before we can tell how effective the makeover is.
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