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Google Is Turning Off the Works-with-Nest API

nest.com

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Re: Google Is Turning Off the Works-with-Nest API

#141

Post by altec3 »

palebluedot wrote: post #33

This seems to include all of us using them in open-source "hobbyist" environments, like Home Assistant and Node-Red. I'm quite frustrated by this; I'll never buy another Nest product again, and I now regret my purchase of the Nest Thermostat. All the rest of my IoT stuff is either open-source hardware/software, or at the least local-only with known protocol interfaces. This was the one exception I made for IoT "cloud…

I'm using a Nest with Homebridge to expose it to Homekit. Didn't want to purchase one due to the reliance on the cloud and lack of Homekit support.

After months of waffling I gave in and got one. I also regret that decision now too. Last Nest purchase I will ever make.

Re: Google Is Turning Off the Works-with-Nest API

#142

Post by cortesoft »

pugworthy wrote: post #68
richev wrote: post #21

So my Nest app[1] that has 1800+ registered users will stop working in August. :'( [1] https://richev.me/nest

Look not to be blunt, but 1800 users? Why should they care? I'm being a devils advocate, but ... if you were at Google and a person making large business decisions, why would you care about 1800 users?

What are you playing devils advocate against? OP wasn't saying it was a bad business decision by google, he was just saying it sucks for the 1800 people using his thing.

Are you saying those 1800 people can't be upset about the lost functionality because they don't effect Google's bottom line?

I don't understand how your comment follows from the GP

Re: Google Is Turning Off the Works-with-Nest API

#144

Post by oliyoung »

ljoshua wrote: post #64

So let's talk alternatives. EcoBee? Honeywell? What's the suggested alternate device and route for those of us that like a little control, like having other services that can integrate, and don't want to be yanked around by shutdowns?

Any ZigBee thermostats should work with Alexa and HomeKit

Re: Google Is Turning Off the Works-with-Nest API

#145

Post by asdfasgasdgasdg »

Questions I won't get answers to, but about which I'm curious anyway:

1. How many end-users are affected?

2. How many devs are affected?

3. What is the annual transaction volume that is affected?

Depending on the magnitude of the answers to these questions, I can see turning this API off being either a good thing or a bad thing. If hundreds of users are affected, well. Sad, but sometimes unpopular things get turned off. If hundreds of thousands of users are affected, this is an eyebrow-raising decision.

Developers are also important, but less so than users. It would be nice to keep the lights on just to let people tinker, but that same openness creates security risks and costs money. Many on this site praise Apple when they make restrictive decisions that harm devs, as long as those decisions are justified in terms of end-user privacy and security.

I think the transaction volume question gets at the heart of the issue, at least for me. If there is a lot of economic activity here, that's a signal that user needs might not be accounted for in this decision, or at least are not its primary driver. On the other hand, if only $1M or $2M per year is changing hands in the affected part of the ecosystem, well . . . again, nothing lasts forever.

Re: Google Is Turning Off the Works-with-Nest API

#146

Post by cortesoft »

Robotbeat wrote: post #71
dreamcompiler wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have lost all hope that it will ever be otherwise. It's quite straightforward to build smart home devices for youself that are reliable and don't depend on the whims of some cloud or firmware vendor, but the minute you try to form a company that sells them you'll be required to generate a continuing revenue stream which means shitting on your customers in one way or the other.

Is this true? I’ve used open source printers from Lulzbot and others, and I haven’t had this experience. I think the moral of the story is to not put stuff on some closed platform in the cloud, not that you shouldn’t use company-provided hardware.

I think his point was that it is hard to keep a company going making just the hardware. The margins are low, and customers only have to pay you once, to get the hardware.

It is hard to make a lasting business off that, which is why everyone wants to do subscription services.

Re: Google Is Turning Off the Works-with-Nest API

#147

Post by yellow_postit »

gboudrias wrote: post #74
GiorgioG wrote: post #37

Man, Google is the new Microsoft of the 90s. Fuck them. I have 3 Nest thermostats (bought prior to the Nest acquisition.)

Really curious how shutting down every service works as a business model.

These services aren't Google's business model of Ads.

Re: Google Is Turning Off the Works-with-Nest API

#148

Post by debacle »

electrograv wrote: post #38

I see Google API/ecosystem fans often defending or dismissing Google’s pattern of behavior here, using arguments like this: “Well, sure, they shut down that API I don’t use — big deal; all things come to an end eventually! But, they’d NEVER do that to this API I rely on — that would be so horrible, Google just would not do it!” I hope we all can acknowledge that this argument is on perpetually eroding ground, at the…

Did they not just kill Chromecast Audio to push Google Home?

Re: Google Is Turning Off the Works-with-Nest API

#149

Post by asdfasgasdgasdg »

Despegar wrote: post #27
bhhaskin wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another reminder to never buy a "smart" device. At the end of the day they are pretty dumb.

Once again HomeKit's design proves to be prescient. https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/3/16083996/internet-of-shit-...

Hrm. How so? HomeKit does not allow third party devs to write apps to control HomeKit devices, AFAICT. So they never added the capability that Google is removing. People can still develop devices that are triggered by Nest and Google Home. They just can no longer write apps that themselves trigger or modify Nest devices.

Or are you saying it's prescient because Apple saw that such capabilities were not economically viable in the long run, and so it was prescient of them to never develop the functionality in the first place?

Re: Google Is Turning Off the Works-with-Nest API

#150

Post by cortesoft »

amanzi wrote: post #30

If a developer has gone to the effort to integrate their solution with Nest, I'd be very surprised if they don't get their solution integrated with Google Assistant, and Apple HomeKit too while they're at it. So I assume that when end-users switch over their Nest devices to the Google Assistant platform, their existing Nest integrations will be available on the Google Assistant platform too. Doesn't appear to be as d…

The FAQ seems to say that isn't the case... the google system does not provide any API to actually control the nest devices, or at least not directly, which is likely required for a lot of the functionality third parties provided.
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