Jordan O'BrienYesterday, Google announced the end of the Works With Nest program, and that effects quite a number of smart home manufacturers. One such manufacturer set to be affected is Control4, which has confirmed that it is developing new Nest drivers in order to comply with Google’s new Works With Google Assistant program.
Google ditched Works With Nest in an attempt to improve the privacy credentials of its smart home products. It’s being replaced by Works With Google Assistant, which the company has stated will only work with heavily vetted partners and only share user data when given explicit approval by the user themselves. Control4 is embracing this change, working directly with Google to ensure it meets the new standards.
Works With Nest is set to be terminated on August 31, 2019, at which point Control4 systems that currently include Nest devices will need to be updated to support Works With Google Assistant. Control4 says that it is working with the intention of launching Works With Google Assistant support before Works With Nest is shutdown, although could not commit to a timeline.
“Fostering a large ecosystem of support for third-party devices is an important feature of Control4 and something we are deeply committed to,” said Control4 Sr Vice President, Products & Services, Charlie Kindel.
“In the same way that we were an early adopter of the ‘Works with Nest’ program, Control4 intends to embrace this new program to continue to offer customers choice and flexibility for the smart products in a Control4 Smart Home.”
While Works With Nest will shut on August 31, 2019, new Nest devices cannot be added to Control4 projects using the current drivers from June 25, 2019.