Nest Learning Thermostat Gen 1 and 2 Fulu reverse engineering bounty

The Product

Nest Labs launched the Nest Learning Thermostat in 2011, introducing smart thermostats to the mainstream. In addition to building a personalized heating and cooling schedule, product owners could adjust temperatures and review their energy usage remotely through use of the Nest app.

The company was acquired by Google in 2014. Through the years, the Nest Thermostat controls were directed to Google Home App and Google Assistant to integrate with the larger Google ecosystem.

The Problem

Starting October 25, 2025, Nest Learning Thermostat will no longer connect to or work in the Google Nest app or Google Home app. This means that the smart thermostat will lose all remote control capabilities previously served through Google Home and Google Assistant and will no longer receive software or security updates. Google confirmed that the devices won’t be fully bricked, with them instead turning into dumb thermostats, which can only be programmed in person. This defeats the purpose of buying a smart thermostat in the first place and it causes users unnecessary and unforeseen inconvenience.

The Solution

To win the bounty, the method submitted by the candidate must:

• Utilize the original computational hardware
• Work on at least one of the first or second generation Google Nest Learning thermostats
• Reactivate or enable in some capacity all expected smart functionality of the thermostats(this can be via a non-google platform such as Home Assistant)
• Be possible with commonly available tools and low-cost computer hardware
• Include instructions for carrying out the functional method which are accessible and easily usable by a non-technical individual (Something that would make a good WikiHow article, or similar)

Please see here for generic bounty terms.

If you have questions about the above, or wish to query the bounty conditions, please contact the bounty team at [email protected]

This bounty will expire on 31st December 2026, after which all contributors will be given the option to have their donation refunded, or to donate it to FULU, if no-one has submitted a successful solution.