What to do with your old Nest gadgets since Google ends support

There are probably countless devices and appliances in your home or pocket that have some sort of smart functionality, meaning that one day they might stop working. Companies like Google can end support for a product, like Google Nest, at any time or issue a statement that service will end on a certain date. When this happens, you end up with outdated technology, but you don’t have to end up with a now stupid device.

If you find yourself with a device like the 1st or 2nd generation Nest Learning Thermostat that is no longer supported by Google, there are several things you can do with it. Without support, devices no longer have smart features. So you can consider recycling them or installing custom firmware to reactivate the unsupported device. Then again, you can also use the Nest item without smart features.

If you want to get rid of an old Nest gadget, recycling it is one way to go. Google even has a recycling program that you can take advantage of. Unsupported devices may no longer have smart connectivity, but they still contain hardware that can be put to good use. Recycling obsolete technology produces less waste around the world and frees up space so you can add a new Nest device to replace it and continue your Google Nest subscription.

Google has abandoned its Nest brand which included the aforementioned thermostats, with the aim of housing all of its smart technology and devices within Google Home. If you own one of the many Google Nest items, including Google Nest Mini and Google Audio, you may want to recycle them or see if there is custom firmware that can restore their smart capabilities. As is the case with a community project.

An app developer from the company No Longer Evil has created firmware that can restore smart functionality to unsupported technology. One project focuses on creating free, open source software for Google Nest thermostats that effectively makes them work as intended before Google stops supporting them. The system essentially sends data from Nest to a custom server containing a replica of the Nest software.

However, it is worth mentioning that No Longer Evil firmware is under development and may not always work correctly. Its use may also cause the thermostat to block completely, preventing future use. It is up to the user to decide whether they want to continue using the software. A post on Reddit details other users’ experiences with the firmware, which many say works and is easy to configure.

Of course, you can always keep your unsupported Google Nest devices and continue to use them without smart connectivity. Once Google ends support for one of its items, it no longer works with Google Home. However, this does not mean that it is no longer usable, in fact many devices can still be operated manually.

Even though Google no longer offers updates for its 1st and 2nd generation Nest Learning Thermostats, they are not useless. You can still use the device to manually adjust the temperature. Google says you can control the thermostat directly through your device to do a number of things. You can access auto-schedule settings to predefine routines. You can also switch between temperatures and access all the thermostat’s features and settings. You will need to check other devices to see if this is the case for them.

If you can’t find open source software to restore old Nest gadgets, you may want to reuse them. You can find clever uses for your old Google technology, like turning speakers into Bluetooth devices. Those who have used technology that is no longer supported by Google say it’s a shame everything hasn’t been made open source and that more companies should do so as things get smarter. Instead of having to buy a new, more expensive product to replace their old, unsupported device, users would prefer to install custom firmware and get it working again.