Update September 18, 2023 at 2:55 PM – Google has reached out with a correction to Meet being removed from Nest Hub Max clarifying with the following statement:
Google Spokesperson
There is no change to making 1:1 and group video calls to friends, family and businesses with Google Meet. What’s changing at the end of September is the support for joining meetings via meeting codes and links in Meet.
I’ve gone ahead and changed the title for clarity.
Original article: If you use your Google Nest Hub Max for video calls, it’s about to become one giant paperweight
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Zoom showed great support for Google’s Nest Hub Max by offering seamless integration with Zoom video calls on the smart home display. Following that, Google continued to pad out its excellent Google Meet video calling features, and those on the display were specific to it. In that few year span, it felt like the work from home crowd were being catered to in incredible ways, but now that things are simmering down, that dream setup is coming to an end. I have even worse news for you too – that Nest Hub Max you bought for video calls? Yeah…that’s going to be a big paperweight now.
First, in a support article, Zoom clearly stated that it’s ending support for the Hub Max at the end of this month. “All support for Zoom on Google Nest Hub Max will end on September 30, 2023”. To be fair, this notice was in advance since July, but neither I nor anyone I know took notice of this until 9to5Google spotted it.
The Zoom application for these devices will stop functioning, and no further updates will be made available. New installations or application sign-ins on Google Nest Hub Max will not be possible after the end of support.
Zoom Support
As a result, the company recommends you migrate to different hardware and just…use your Max to look at family photos, I suppose? It recommends you get an iPad, a Neat Frame or a DTEN ME Pro. Just as you thought you were upset, I have worse news for you – Google is also ending support for Meet on Next Hub Max! That’s right, the company that made and maintains the hardware it planted a camera in for video calls is pulling its own video calling software from it – who would have thought?
Per a Reddit post from u/chebbie, a message appeared last they attempted to use Meet on the display that read “Joining meetings will no longer be available on this device starting September 28“. While there has been no official confirmation of Meet ending support and the user couldn’t find a notice of this, the fact that they encountered this message specifically for Meet and outside of Zoom is a clear indication that both companies are ready to stop providing you with the feature you bought the darn thing for, it seems.
I personally just have a standard issue Nest Hub, not a Max, so let me know in the comments if you’ve also seen the notice chebbie encountered. I’d be interested in a screenshot if you have it, and we’ll keep this article updated if we hear back from Google regarding Meet support. Did you use Zoom a lot during the pandemic? Are you disappointed in these decisions? Go ahead and rage in the comments if you now have a $229 paperweight or if you’ve found other uses for your Max like music and such.
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