If you own a Nest product, we’ve got bad news: Last night, as you performed your evening ablutions and got ready for bed, Nest devices went offline, disabling some integral features in certain devices. But hey, if you’re a Nest user, this probably isn’t the first time you’ve had to deal with something like this.
The outage, as reported by the Verge, occurred last night, and rendered at least some users’ Nest devices inaccessible via the app and website. On Twitter, Nest’s support account shared the news of outage reports at 11:30pm ET, informing customers with Nest Secure and Nest x Yale Lock devices about the inability to arm their alarms or lock or unlock doors using the app.
Nest later stated the issue was completely resolved around 2:30am ET. Gizmodo has reached out to Nest for more clarification on which devices and features were most affected by the temporary disconnection from Nest’s services.
While the downtime meant users were unable to remotely control their devices, or see any video footage obtained via Nest cameras, basic functionality remained, including the physical controls for door locks, thermostats, and smoke detectors. So, don’t panic; your door didn’t unlock itself and your smoke detector didn’t drop the ball on the one thing it’s supposed to do right.
But if you’re a Nest user, these temporary outages may seem to be par for the course. Actually, permanent outages are part of Nest’s brand, too.
In 2015, Nest’s security cameras went offline for hours, forcing users to speculate on the happenings in front of their cameras’ lenses until access to cloud recordings were restored. In 2016, Nest thermostats went rogue after a software bug caused them to run down their batteries, forcing users to get technical and perform a manual restart to get their thermostats up and running again. And let’s not forget one of Nest’s more infuriating decisions to kill the $300 Revolv smart home hub, which was designed to work with a variety of smart home devices using a single app.
Sure, one outage for a few hours every year or so isn’t the worst thing to happen to a gadget, but it’s different when you’re dealing with security products like alarm systems and security cameras. They’re there to show me what’s happening when I’m not home—something that’s impossible to accomplish when I can’t even launch an app to see what’s happening. Smart home tech has certainly advanced its visual appeal, but the rough edges are still pretty prominent.