If you are signed up for the Google Home Public Preview, you now have the option to transfer first-generation Nest cameras to the Google Home app. Currently, only Nest Cam Indoor, Nest Cam Outdoor and Nest Hello / Nest Doorbell (1st gen) can be transferred, but Google has announced that other camera models will be transferrable soon.
Once a first-gen camera is transferred to Google Home:
- Camera settings will now be fully adjustable from the Google Home app
- You'll get an improved user interface in the Google Home app for viewing and controlling the camera, including a similar 'timeline scrubbing' feature to the Nest app
- Additional Starling Home Hub features, including HomeKit Secure Video recording, will be available in Apple Home
Transferred cameras gain significant improvements in Apple Home
We recommend transferring first-generation cameras to Google Home when the option becomes available to your devices, because after the transfer, you'll get a significantly improved camera experience and new features in Apple Home via Starling Home Hub (firmware 14.0 and above):
- Camera video quality and frame rate are both improved
- Camera stream load times are significantly reduced
- Local network streaming is available, for reduced data usage and improved privacy (with hub firmware 14.5 and above)
- You can view up to 10 camera streams at the same time from multiple devices (Starling Home Hub only supports 1 active camera stream in total for non-transferred first-gen Nest cameras)
- HomeKit Secure Video is available (requires Nest Aware and iCloud+), including event recording, rich notifications, HomeKit Activity Zones and HomeKit Face Recognition
How to transfer first-gen Nest cameras to Google Home
Open the Google Home app, go to your camera's live view, press '...' top right, then press Settings. If transfer to Google Home is available, you will see a Transfer to the Google Home app option.
Transferring a camera to Google Home takes about 20 minutes. After the transfer is complete, wait a few minutes, then go to the Starling app on your iOS device. You'll see that your first-gen camera is now available in the HomeKit Secure Video Recording section.
If you are unhappy after the transfer, you can move the camera back to the Nest app at any time from the Google Home app. Go to your camera's live view, press '...' top right, Settings, then press Transfer to the Nest app.
More information on transferring first-generation cameras to Google Home can be found on Google's support page.