As of last month, the older Nest Thermostats have effectively died, as Google has pulled the plug on most of their features. While many will end up replacing the decade-old hardware, a clever new project hopes to give older Nest Thermostats a new lease on life.
Announced early this year, Google ended software support – i.e. app controls – for three of its oldest Nest Thermostats on October 25, 2025. Or, at least that’s what was supposed to happen. Some users reported still being able to access and control these models via the Nest app after the deadline, but that’s likely to end soon if it hasn’t already.
These devices don’t simply cease to function at all, thankfully, as they’ll still work offline. The older generations lose app controls, but function just fine as a “dumb” thermostat.
But, obviously, that’s not what Nest Thermostat owners bought the product for. And, if you haven’t already upgraded to a newer model, it turns out that there might be a lifeline for your existing hardware.
Developer Cody Kociemba published the “NoLongerEvil Thermostat” project on GitHub this week which promises to give your Nest Thermostat an extended life outside of Google’s ecosystem. The project works by installing custom hardware on your Nest Thermostat using the “OMAP DFU (Device Firmware Update) interface.”
After installing the new firmware, the Nest Thermostat no longer communicates with Google’s servers and can instead be controlled via “nolongerevil.com.” This includes temperature and mode adjustments, real-time status, and more.
You’ll need to make a new account to manage the device from that site, but the promise is that you’ll then be able to remotely control your Nest Thermostat for the foreseeable future. The project is available now and will be open-sourced in the near future. Instructions are available on GitHub.
The custom firmware flashes the device with modified bootloader and kernel components that redirect all network traffic from the original Nest/Google servers to a server we specify. This server hosts a reverse-engineered replica of their API, allowing the thermostat to function independently while giving you complete control over your device data and settings.
By intercepting the communication layer, the thermostat believes it’s communicating with the official Nest infrastructure, but instead connects to the NoLongerEvil platform. This approach ensures full compatibility with the device’s existing software while breaking free from Google’s cloud dependency.
Of course, this is something you should only do at your own risk, and there is a warning that this could brick your device if something goes wrong. The project is designed to work solely with the 1st-generation and 2nd-generation Nest Learning Thermostats.
Are you still using an older Nest Thermostat? Would you try this project? Let us know in the comments below if it works for you – again, doing so at your own risk.
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