Jimmy Westenberg / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google is finally starting to roll out the long-awaited temperature scheduling features for the 3rd Gen and E Nest thermostats in the Google Home app.
- This addresses the last major reason many users were forced to keep using the old Nest app, which was previously required for this function.
- While the new feature is now live for some, users should note that the functionality is a bit glitchy at the moment. Fortunately, simply clearing the cache of the Home app seems to fix problems.
Back in April, Google made the controversial decision to end support for several older Nest Thermostats, pushing users toward the latest 4th gen model. Thankfully, the popular Gen 3 and E models were spared, saving many from a forced upgrade. Better yet, Google also announced it would finally add scheduling support for these models to the Google Home app — a move addressing the last major reason many people still use the old Nest app. The company didn’t give a timeline for when these scheduling functions would roll out, but I noticed the other day that the feature is finally available for me.
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For years, the Nest app was responsible for controlling all Nest thermostats. With the launch of the 2020 model, however, the Google Home app became the primary way to control thermostat functions. While older devices like the popular Gen 3 and E thermostats could also be moved over, one critical feature was missing: temperature scheduling. This omission forced many people to keep the old, clunky Nest app installed for that function alone.
In April, Google finally promised a fix, announcing that full scheduling support would arrive for these models in the Google Home app sometime “later this year.” That vague timeline left many wondering if they’d have to wait until the end of 2025. Fortunately, the wait may soon be over, as I recently discovered the new scheduling page is now live for my Gen 3 Nest Thermostat in the Google Home app.
As you can see in these screenshots, the Google Home app now lets me set specific temperatures for different times of the day, choose which sensors to use for temperature readings throughout the day, and configure a minimum runtime for the fan each hour. The main page also provides an at-a-glance view of the day’s schedule.
One downside, however, is that the scheduling functionality is a bit glitchy in the Home app. For starters, the schedule I created in the Nest app didn’t carry over. When I added a new temperature in the Home app and backed out, my old Nest schedule briefly appeared and then disappeared. At the same time, the new temperature I added was gone. Fortunately, these issues are easy to fix. Simply clear the Home app’s cache and relaunch it, and your old schedule should appear in the Home app.
If you own a Gen 3 or E Nest thermostat, check the Google Home app and let us know in the comments if you have the new scheduling functions!
This article was updated at 11:15 AM ET to note that the scheduling functionality is a bit glitchy at the moment, and later updated at 4:24 PM ET to note that clearing the cache of the Home app seems to fix most issues.
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