In a world that is fast turning into a world of smart homes, there are of course brand to brand incompatibilities and competitions. Nest was bought by Google in 2014 and has been one of their many sources of revenues since. For an apple user, like myself, this can be difficult. While Apple does have a response to Nest, (the HomeKit) it cannot yet compete with Nest.
So, can a Nest Guard be controlled by Siri? Because the Nest Guard and Siri are owned by two of the most competing technology companies around right now, the HomeKit, Siri, and Nest are not compatible. Nest says that they’re working on becoming compatible, but nothing will happen in the near future.
This topic is actually a topic of quite a lot of controversy in the Nest community. People who are grounded in their Apple devices and HomeKit want to be able to use Nest as well, but nothing seems to be happening, and customers have threatened to leave Nest if they don’t work this out soon. Some people have even found loopholes and such to make it work.
Incompatibility of the Two Brands
While the people at Nest are saying that they’re trying to work something out, it doesn’t seem that they’re anywhere close to becoming compatible HomeKit. There is a post that talks about this on the Nest-Community.com.
This post has received more than 80K views, as it is a big deal. Many of the customers are frustrated and say that they will be transferring over to a “non-Nest” company that will work with the HomeKit.
The community asks when Nest will become compatible with HomeKit, but Nest keeps stating the same things such as
“We haven’t ruled any platforms out, including HomeKit. We support our customers on Apple platforms by providing the Nest app for iOS and Apple TV, and we’re always looking into new partnerships that allow us to reach as many customers as possible. ”
Nest-Community.com
But, many people believe that they may never be compatible as the competition between the two companies is much too pronounced to be able to work together on this.
Nest IOS App
Nest’s response to this uproar by their customers was that they have provided the Nest IOS app for Apple users. But, this is not a solution. You still cannot use Siri to control the things that you need to.
Apple users retaliated again with a whopping 2.5 out of 5 rating on the apple store, the majority of the ratings being a 1. Yet still, this is all they provide Apple users with.
Loopholes Available
Homebridge
According to Jeff Benjamin, a blogger on iDownloadBlog, there is a way to combat this commercial competition to ensure customer satisfaction. Customers got tired of getting the runaround.
He wrote this article in 2015, and customers were over it even back then. Now, in 2019 there still isn’t compatibility available, which makes it seem clear that there most likely won’t be compatible any time soon.
But, because customers were sick of this, they came together and created a soluted. And that solution was to create a NodeJS server created called Homebridge.
By running this on your Mac (preferably one that is always on) you are able to control incompatible devices with Siri. It is the answer everyone was waiting for but were never given.
With just nine steps that Benjamin provides, Apple HomeKit users can now control their Nest or any other incompatible smart home devices or add ons. He provides a step by step video tutorial as well on his blog.
IFTTT
Along with Homebridge, there is a website called IFTTT that creates Applets that you can use to get the most out of the Apps on your phone. These applets are used and created by IFTTT. You can use this applet to use Siri to control your Nest thermostat. Where companies won’t provide solutions, customers will get creative and create solutions to counter these company bickers.
Options Other Than Nest
Many customers are tired of waiting for this Nest and HomeKit to get on board with each other, so many are thinking about transitioning to other systems other than Nest.
“I’ve been following this link for about a year. Given Nest hasn’t recently responded to the concerns by this group (80k views BTW) and given many of us will be migrating away from Nest. I’d like to hear how the transition is going from members installing “non-nest” systems. I too plan to transition away from Nest.”
NestCommunity.com customer Stark5 recently said,
Following this comment that was posted just 10 days ago, there have been 9 responses by people claiming that either they have transitioned to Ecobee, Honeywell, Tado or if they are going to hold out for compatibility with the HomeKit.
But, it’s a consensus that no one is happy that they aren’t compatible with HomeKit yet. Unfourtantly for Nest, Apple has a large and loyal clientele that for the most part will stay with Apple rather than replacing Apple products.
Other Thermostat Brands
- Honeywell Lyric T5 – This is an affordable option when considering all the options for smart thermostat brands. It is functional, affordable and Apple user-friendly. While it is not the best thermostat overall, it is the most affordable HomeKit compatible option.
- Ecobee 3 or 4 – This is a great thermostat as well, and it works great with HomeKit. Again, not as great as Nest, but it is functional and you can use Siri with it.
Related Questions
What brands are the HomeKit and Siri compatible with? Right now, HomeKit is compatible with Honeywell, Tado
Are Google and Nest connected? Yes. Nest started out as a small starter-up company, but then in 2014 Google bought them up and now they’re a part of Google. This is partly why it’s so difficult for Nest to work with Apple, because of Apple and Google being so competitive.