Nest thermostat thinks we're Away, when we're not

Slinky

Don't know whether this is linked to the lastest IOS update, which mentioned they were fixing bugs with Airtag locations, but yesterday when we came home, the Nest didn't recognise we were here.

We didn't notice it until 2 hours after the heating was due to come on, that it seemed cold in our lounge where the thermostat is. Our setup is so that it works on our phone location, and we had the thermostat sensor turned off. We have a fixed schedule for heating and hotwater, not the 'learned' feature.

We manually turned the setting in the app from Away to Home, but a while after we went to bed, it reset itself to Away again, so no heating and hot water in the morning. Turned it on manually again. It turned itself to Away again a while later, but back on when I went through the lounge as I've now turned the sensor on the stat on. Both of us went out a while back, it came up that we were Away, but has now detected my phone as correctly being back at Home again.

Has anyone else experienced these problems recently? Haven't had any issues previously.

One thing to note is that OH's iphone has run the latest software update. Mine has not. I'm at home now, he isn't.

flaneurs_lobster

I'm a fan of gadgets and home automation as much as the next geek, but…

Just switch it to timer like 99% of the rest of the thermostat world until Apple get it sorted.

Or get a proper Android phone.

MyRealNameToo

Given you are talking Nest, which isnt HomeKit compatible, it's fairly unlikely to be anything to do with the 26.2.1 update which was mainly to enable the AirTag2 to be compatible with devices.

We also have Apple/Nest devices and havent had any problems since upgrading to 26.2.1. Have had occasional issues in the past but they just have self resolved. I've asked Nest more than once how far you have to be from "Home" for "Away" to be set etc and only ever gotten very vague answers of 1-10 miles. Given I live and work in central London Im rarely 10 miles from home on a day to day basis.

Slinky

It's certainly much closer than 10 miles. It switches to Away when we're sitting in the cinema half a mile away.

Can't work out how it thinks we're away when we're in the house within feet of the router and the kit.

TadleyBaggie

Do use a VPN when at home?

Slinky

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81877271#Comment_81877271

No we don't.

Slinky

I seem to have something called Google Home as an App on my phone which appears to have information being picked up from Nest. Can't tell whether this is reading the Nest info, or controlling it.

This seems to be linked to the TV as well! Don't know what for or how.

Lord, tech can be so confusing!

flaneurs_lobster

I don't use Nest devices but…I thought all Nest functionality was now run via the Google Home app? It should certainly all be available there. My understanding was that Google were going to discontinue the Nest app (and eventually the Nest name).

Emmia

Are your phones and the nest connected to the same Wi-fi network?

The easiest solution is probably to set up the heating schedule.

Vitor

What OP describe fits iOS location issues. After recent iOS updates, Nest or Google Home often loses background location. Check Location Services is set to “Always” and Background App Refresh is enabled for the app, and that both phones are selected for Home/Away.

NB, Check exactly which Nest thermostat model you have and which app you’re using (Nest app vs Google Home). Older 1st/2nd gen Learning models lost cloud support in Oct 2025. If your thermostat is still in the app, it’s supported.

Slinky

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81877990#Comment_81877990

Yes all connected to the same wifi. We have got a heating schedule set up, but it uses the mobile location feature to turn it off if we're not in the house.