Google discontinues Nest Protect smoke alarm and Nest x Yale door lock
In this week’s least surprising news, Google has announced it’s discontinuing the Nest Protect Smart Smoke and CO alarm and the Nest x Yale smart door lock. The Nest Protect, which has long been one of the best smart smoke alarms you can buy, has been hard to find for a while now, with users complaining on Reddit that the device either isn’t in stock or that the Google store is limiting purchases to one and shipping them out slowly.
In a post on its Nest community forum, Google says it made the decision to ditch its popular smoke alarm and door lock as part of its move toward “building a platform that all device makers and developers can use to spur innovation in the home.” The company added that as the smart home evolves, it “must continue to refine our portfolio of devices to meet the needs of our customers.”
The Nest Protect was launched in 2013, with a second-gen model following in 2015, after the first-gen model was recalled due to a questionable wave-to-silence feature. The company is now partnering with First Alert, owned by Resideo, to launch the First Alert Smart Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Alarm in the US and Canada later this year.
The new alarm will cost $129 and can interconnect with existing Nest Protect devices via Google’s Weave / Thread communication protocol. However, it will connect to the Google Home app over Wi-Fi to send alerts and notifications. I’ve written more about the new smoke alarm here.
Google says the Nest Protect will continue to receive security updates and work as expected through its expiration dates (10 years from the date of manufacture for second-gen models). The alarm is still available to buy at the Google store and other retailers “while supplies last.”
Nest Protects are currently added and controlled via the Nest app, although Google recently announced it will migrate them to the Google Home app. Compatibility is currently available through Google Home’s public preview, but Google says it will be available to all Google Home app users in the coming weeks.
Google is also killing its Nest x Yale door lock, which launched in 2018. It says existing Nest x Yale locks will continue to receive software and security updates, and the lock will function as expected. Google also says it will bring new features to the lock, including passcode management, from the Nest app to the Google Home app for the first time.
Currently, the Nest x Yale lock needs to be set up and managed in the Nest app, but Google is slowly transitioning users away from that legacy app.
To offer a replacement for the lock, Google has again partnered with Yale to develop the Yale Smart Lock with Matter, which it says is “a new smart lock designed to complement Nest doorbells coming this summer.”
The $170 lock is designed to fit in with the Google Nest video doorbell aesthetic but will work with any Matter-compatible ecosystem over the Thread protocol, including Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, and Samsung SmartThings. I’ve written more about the new lock here.