If you’re holding on to your first or second generation Nest Thermostat, we have good news for you. A clever workaround now offers a way to get your Google device back online.
When Google officially ended support for early Nest models, many owners were left with a thermostat that worked perfectly fine, except it could no longer connect to the app. For a product built around smart features, this felt like the limit. But a new open source project from developer Cody Kociemba (via AndroidPolice) promises to change that and give users a second chance to control their old Nest remotely.
The project is hosted on GitHub and effectively reroutes data from the original Nest platform to the new platform. This is not an official fix and certainly not recommended by Google, but early testers say it works. Once the software is loaded, the thermostat will work much the same as before. Same interface, same controls, but working under different backends.
That said, this is not a plug-and-play remedy. Installing custom firmware requires some technical know-how and comes with the usual disclaimers. Proceed with caution and any problems that occur are at your own risk. Although Kociemba’s detailed instructions walk users through every step, it’s still essentially a DIY repair.
Of course, if you don’t want to risk your thermostat failing, it’s safer to use Google’s newer models or alternative models from Ecobee, Hive, or Tado. Still, for the more adventurous, this project offers a rare opportunity to breathe life into technology that wasn’t built to last forever.
