After you grant permission in the Nest app, Home/Away Assist uses your phone’s location to help tell when you’ve left home and when you’ve returned. Instead of constantly tracking your location, the Nest app only receives basic notifications from your phone that say you’re home or away.
With your permission, Home/Away Assist can use your phone’s location to tell when you’ve left home and when you’ve returned. This helps your Nest products automatically do the right thing as you come and go, so you don’t have to manually switch them on or off or rely on a set schedule.
Here’s some helpful information about Home/Away Assist and your phone:
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The Nest app doesn’t constantly track your location. It only receives basic information from your phone to determine whether you’re home or away.
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The app uses the standard location services built into iOS and Android. These services include a combination of cell tower strength, Wi-Fi network information, and occasionally GPS.
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To minimize the impact on your phone’s battery, Home/Away Assist will only use GPS if your cellular and Wi-Fi connections have been lost and your phone hasn’t checked in for a couple days.
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Other people in your household can use their phone locations to help with Home/Away Assist. Participants won’t be able to see exactly who’s home or who’s away, just that someone is home or everyone is gone.
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We encrypt our connections to keep your data safe. Your location information will not be shared outside of Nest without your permission.
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More details about how we keep your data safe are available at Nest’s website.
For the best experience, make sure cellular data and Wi-Fi are enabled in your phone’s settings. When you open the Nest app, it will let you know if you’ve made any changes to your phone that affect Home/Away Assist.