Summary
- Google Home users are experiencing problems with common voice commands for Nest Thermostats, such as “turn off the thermostat,” with the system failing to recognize them.
- The system often ironically instructs users to use the very command they just issued, and less intuitive phrases like “set the thermostat to off” are sometimes the only working alternatives.
- This command issue could break existing smart home automations that rely on these previously standard voice prompts.
Earlier in April this year, Google announced that it would end support for the first and second generations of the Nest Learning Thermostat in Q4 later this year. Said thermostats will no longer receive software updates starting October 25, 2025.
Post deprecation, owners of the first (2011) and second gen (2012, 2014) thermostats will still be able to adjust their house temperature directly on the thermostat, but they’ll lose the functionality to control the devices remotely via the Google Home app or with Google Assistant. Essentially, the change would turn perfectly good hardware into inferior versions of themselves with severely limited functionality.
The deprecation hasn’t yet begun, though a recent Nest Thermostat voice command shift is already causing quite a stir for some Google Home users.
As highlighted by user NSuave on Reddit (via Android Authroity), their Nest thermostat no longer registers regular conversational prompts like “turn off the nest” or “turn off the thermostat.”
We’re encountering the same issue on a third-gen Nest Thermostat
The user reported that the voice command, given to a Nest Hub in their kitchen, returns with an error message. The message instructs them to use prompts like “Turn off the thermostat,” which, ironically, is the very command the user had just uttered.
We tried the simple command on a third-gen Nest Thermostat and the prompt, indeed, failed to turn the thermostat off. As pointed out by user Cael26, less intuitive commands like “Set the thermostat to off” still work, which, although unnatural, provides temporary relief. “I have the same problem, but in my case it answers ‘it looks like you haven’t set up those lights yet,’” wrote a disgruntled user under NSuave’s post, while a different one wrote “Mine stopped responding to the thermostat months ago and I have to call it by its actual name in the app.”
This has the potential to break automations that are triggered when a user says “turn off the thermostat.” For example, automations that automatically close smart blinds to prevent unwanted heat might not trigger if Google Home doesn’t understand the preliminary command.
Are you facing similar issues with your smart home commands? Let us know in the comments below.
