Nest CEO Tony Fadell has published a letter to customers informing them of a potential issue the company discovered with its Nest Protect smoke and carbon monoxide alarm. The problem centers around the accidental activation of the Nest Wave feature, which disables the alarm when users wave their hands.
As the issue is being addressed, Nest is halting sales of new Nest Protect alarms and turning off the feature for existing devices. Fadell expects it will take two to three months before Nest gets approval to reactivate the wave functionality. He added that he’s not aware of any customers experiencing the issue in the wild.
Customers with Nest Protect units that are connected to an account over Wi-Fi will see the feature disabled in the next 24 hours. If you haven’t connected your device, Nest strongly recommends that you do so in order for the remote disable to take place. Users without Wi-Fi are advised to contact Nest for a refund.
Nest released the Protect last year as a follow-up to its first product, a smart thermostat.
Fadell and his team are handling the issue admirably by acting quickly and apologizing, but the issue will still serve as an awkward smudge on the company’s record as it joins Google. The $3.2 billion acquisition deal was announced in January before completing a month later.
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