Google Removed An Easy Way To Call Home To Your Nest Smart Display

Google Removed an Easy Way to Call Home to Your Nest Smart Display

Last updated: 2025/12/03 at 8:54 AM

News Room Published 3 December 2025

A recent update to the Google Home app has quietly removed a feature which allowed users to call members of their own household on a communal smart display.

The Call Home feature was first introduced in 2019, allowing users to make direct contact with members of their household without them needing a personal device. Call Home used Google Duo to contact smart displays including the Nest Hub, Nest Hub Max, and the Pixel Tablet.

The easy-to-use button in the Home app allowed you to directly call one of those devices without connecting to an additional Google account.

Google has yet to confirm its reasoning for removing the feature, and it’s unclear when it happened. As first reported by PiunikaWeb, some users on Reddit began to notice the feature was missing over recent weeks. Google’s own support agents were unable to confirm the feature’s removal when contacted by those who first highlighted the problem.

One Reddit user said they used Call Home to speak to their kids while they were away at the store, but now they don’t have a way to get in contact with their children as they don’t yet have their own personal devices.

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You can still call a smart display through Google Meet, but it’s more complicated than the previous Call Home system. You’ll need to add an account to Google Meet on the smart display, meaning it’s not as useful for contacting members of your family who don’t have their own phone.

In 9to5Google’s research, it found that the Broadcast button has also been removed from the Home app. That previously let you send a message to read aloud through your home’s speakers and smart displays. The same functionality is still possible though by asking your voice assistant of choice to broadcast to your speakers.