Google Home rolls out garage door alerts for Nest Cam users

It's been three weeks into the Google Home app public preview and the much-requested updates show no sign of slowing down. In an official blog post last week, Adina Roth, product manager at Google Home & Nest announced that Nest cameras will be able to deliver a new intelligent alert via the Home app: garage door detection. 

This new feature is based on the AI-powered image detection capabilities of Google's Nest cameras. Users on public preview will be able to customize the delay between detection and the alert, to prevent false positives. Google Home also sends photos and a video recording of the door opening and closing.

Not every Google Nest camera is compatible with this new functionality. Garage door detection is restricted to public preview users with a second-gen Nest Cam Indoor (available on Amazon) or a battery-powered Nest Cam that is plugged in for power. The feature also requires an Nest Cam subscription which starts at US$8/month, or US$80/year. 

Other updates appear to be taken right out of the Nest app. Google Home now offers expanded support for first-generation Nest cameras – meaning camera settings, event lists and timeline views will be accessible on the Google Home app. Also, the same app now allows users to create and download custom clips of footage from their Nest Doorbell cameras. 

Adina Roth also confirmed that Google will be adding more functionality to Google Home for web, for users accessing the app via a browser. While a date for that release is unknown, Nest doorbell holiday themes have officially returned, starting today.