Google Nest Doorbell live view broken for many owners

The first-generation wired Nest Doorbell is failing to show live video for many owners in the Google Home app, according to 9to5Google. Google now calls the device "Nest Doorbell (wired, 1st gen)," but it was originally sold as Nest Hello. Owners began discussing the problem in several Reddit threads in recent weeks, and complaints have become much more widespread over the past few days, the publication reported. 9to5Google published its report on Friday.

9to5Google said it found nearly a dozen Google support threads from users who cannot load live video feeds from the doorbell inside the Google Home app. Some owners say the live view has been broken for more than a week, and some thread titles mention the Google Home migration. Others describe the failure appearing right after they moved the doorbell from the Nest app. The reports center on the original wired doorbell model rather than newer Nest Doorbell generations.

A smaller number of owners of first-generation Nest cameras are also reporting that those cameras no longer stream in the Google Home app, according to 9to5Google. The site said it could not find nearly as many reports for the cameras as it did for the doorbell.

Google rolled out a software update to older Nest cameras and doorbells at the end of October, 9to5Google reported. Separately, 9to5Google noted that owners report Nest Doorbell alerts still appear on Nest Hub displays even though live view fails in the app.

Some users have speculated in Reddit comments that Google's switch to WebRTC for camera streaming may be causing the failures, 9to5Google reported. However, the publication said workarounds based on that theory have not worked reliably, and the cause remains unconfirmed.

Google has not publicly confirmed the issue or said when a fix might arrive, 9to5Google said. In support threads, the company has so far offered only generic troubleshooting messages. The publication said it will update its report as more details become available.