Search “Nest thermostat app” and you’ll get instructions for an app most new Nest owners never install. If you bought a Nest Thermostat or Nest Learning Thermostat (4th gen) recently, the Google Home app is your thermostat app, full stop. The classic Nest app still runs for older models, but Google has been moving accounts off it for a few years now. Here’s what actually controls your thermostat today, split by which model you own.
Which app do you actually use?
- Nest Thermostat (2020) or Nest Learning Thermostat (4th gen): Google Home app only. You add the thermostat with a Google Account from day one; there’s no Nest Account step to skip.
- Nest Learning Thermostat (3rd gen or earlier) or Nest Thermostat E: these can still run in the classic Nest app, but to move to the Google Home app you first migrate your Nest Account to a Google Account (see below). Not required, but Google’s newer features land in Home first.
- Nest Learning Thermostat (1st or 2nd gen): neither app works anymore. Google ended support for these on October 25, 2025. If yours is a 1st or 2nd gen and it’s stopped connecting, that’s why, it’s not a bug on your end, see our Nest model identification guide to confirm which generation you have.
What the Google Home app actually controls
Once your thermostat is in the Home app (Home tab > Climate > your thermostat), you get:
- Target temperature. Drag the ring or tap the +/- buttons; current and target temps both show on the tile.
- Mode. Heat, Cool, Heat-Cool, or Off, limited by what your system supports.
- Temperature Hold. Pause the schedule at a set temperature for a chosen duration. This one’s exclusive to the Nest Thermostat and 4th-gen Learning Thermostat; older models don’t have it in the app.
- Fan timer. Run the fan on its own for a set duration, independent of heating or cooling.
- Schedule. Build and edit your weekly schedule, with suggested adjustments for energy savings (this suggestion feature isn’t available on 1st-2nd gen models, which is moot now that they’re unsupported).
- Energy dashboard. Daily, weekly, and monthly usage history.
- Presets. The 2020 Nest Thermostat specifically supports named custom presets (e.g., “Sleep,” “Away”) beyond the standard schedule.
Eco Temperature and Home/Away Assist
Eco Temperature is the wider, energy-saving range your thermostat holds when nobody’s home, you’ll see “Eco” on the display and in the app when it’s active. Home/Away Assist decides when that kicks in automatically, using your phone’s location to tell whether anyone’s home.
To hold Eco manually from the app: Home tab > Climate > your thermostat > Hold Eco. To turn off the automatic switching entirely, that setting lives under the thermostat’s own settings menu in the app, not a separate toggle, look for Home/Away Assist there. For the full breakdown of what Eco Temperature changes and why it sometimes triggers when you’re still home, see our Eco mode guide.
Adding and using remote (temperature) sensors
A Nest Temperature Sensor reports the temperature from wherever you place it (a bedroom, a room that runs hot or cold) instead of the thermostat only reading its own wall location. It works with the Nest Thermostat E and the Nest Learning Thermostat (3rd and 4th gen); the 4th gen ships with one in the box.
To add one: Google Home app > Add device, then follow the pairing prompts. Once it’s added, you can:
- Choose which sensor the thermostat should follow at any given time
- Schedule different sensors for different times of day (a bedroom sensor overnight, a living-room sensor during the day, for example)
- Place up to six sensors across a home; each runs about three years on its battery
Migrating your account from the old Nest app
If you’re on a 3rd-gen Learning Thermostat or a Thermostat E and want the Google Home app’s newer features, the migration is a one-time, one-way step: in the Nest app > Account > Migrate to a Google Account, then follow the Google sign-in prompts and confirm.
Two things worth knowing before you do it: it isn’t reversible, and it’s optional, the classic Nest app keeps working for these models if you’d rather not switch yet. Make sure the Nest app itself is fully updated first; an outdated version is the most common reason the migration option doesn’t appear.
Common app problems
Most “the app won’t do X” complaints trace back to one of a few causes:
- Thermostat shows offline in the app but you can see it’s connected to Wi-Fi. This is a specific, well-documented failure mode, not a general connectivity issue, see our full walkthrough for offline-but-connected before assuming it’s your router.
- Schedule changes in the app don’t show up on the thermostat (or the reverse). Give it a minute; app and device sync over Wi-Fi and can lag briefly after a change. If it’s been longer than that, check the offline-but-connected guide above first, sync problems are usually a symptom of the same root cause.
- Airwave, a separate humidity-driven feature some Nest models show in the app, gets asked about alongside app questions often enough to mention here: see what Nest Airwave does if you’re seeing it and aren’t sure whether to leave it on.
Next step
Haven’t installed your Nest yet? Start with our complete Nest installation and setup walkthrough, the app pairing happens at the very end of that process. Already set up and just need to confirm which model you have and what it supports? Check the Nest Thermostat model guide.
