Stephen Schenck / Android Authority
TL;DR Google’s newly added Home Premium subscription is set to replace existing Nest Aware plans by next year.
While Google prompts users to upgrade, the poorly worded messaging fails to effectively convey the benefits.
Meanwhile, in the UK, Google will de-bundle the Fitbit Premium and Nest Aware plans from Google One next year, effectively doubling the cost for users there.
Gemini recently arrived on Google Home, bringing a conversational interface to the platform. This updated interface allows you to ask questions or let Gemini scour through security camera footage for you, eliminating the need for manual labor.
The best features, such as Ask Home and Home Brief, of the newly introduced Google Home experience, unfortunately, require a subscription. The Standard and Advanced tiers of the newly introduced Google Home Premium subscription replace the existing Nest Aware and Aware Plus monthly plans. And with this, Google is asking some users to pay more than they are used to.
While Google One plans have always been confusing, they’re about to become even more complicated in the UK, where Google One’s 2TB plan also includes Nest Aware and Fitbit Premium. Until now, this entire bundle has cost £8 (~$11), while users could upgrade to Nest Aware Plus for an additional £5.99. However, with the announcement of new Gemini improvements, Google has begun informing users that they will lose their benefits starting October 1, 2026 — i.e., about a year from now. That means users will have to purchase Google Home Premium and Fitbit Premium subscriptions separately.
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The change is intended to prompt more users to switch to Google’s AI Pro plan, which also includes 2TB of storage as well as the Google Home Premium Standard plan. However, this plan costs £18.99 (~$26) in the UK, essentially shooting the costs up to more than double of what users have been paying so far.
It’s not nearly as bad for folks in the US, where Google has started informing users that they can save money if they already pay for the AI Pro plan. Previously, while the monthly subscription cost would add up to $30 a month (including the $10 additional fee for Nest Aware), it would only cost $20. For Nest Aware Plus, the cost comes down from $40 to $30. Anyone who has already paid for a yearly subscription will receive a refund for their Nest Aware subscription if they also use AI Pro.
However, it’s relying on some utterly confusing messaging without making these benefits immediately clear. “There was nothing in my Google Home app or Google One account page to get me back to a screen that would actually let me upgrade – it just kept sending me in circles,” one user noted in a Reddit post.
The responsibility to claim a refund remains with the consumer and is not automatically applied, which inevitably leads to an unpleasant experience. What Google truly ought to do is listen to my colleague Adamya, who recently stressed how a separate YouTube Premium subscription doesn’t make sense. Instead, Google should follow Apple’s lead and bundle all services, including YouTube TV, Premium, and Music, into a single plan that also combines Google Drive storage.
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