Google Wifi app to begin shutting down in May in favor of Google Home

Kyle Bradshaw | Apr 2 2021 - 11:03 am PT

As it stands today, Google has two distinct apps for managing your Google Wifi and Nest Wifi networks, with Google Wifi and Google Home. Starting next month, the older Google Wifi app is shutting down in favor of the all-in-one Google Home.

In an email going out today to owners of a Google Wifi or Nest Wifi network, the company has announced that the “Google Wifi” app will begin the process of shutting down starting May 25. After that date, it will no longer be possible to set up a new network or reconfigure your existing network with the Google Wifi app.

Subsequently, in June, the Google Wifi app will be delisted from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store and will no longer be supported. Customers will be asked to use the Google Home app exclusively.

The main purpose of the email is to prepare Google and Nest Wifi customers for the upcoming change by recommending they migrate their network to the Google Home app as soon as possible. Once migrated, your network settings will still be accessible and manageable through both Google Wifi and Google Home apps until the May 25 start of the shutdown process.

In addition to simply changing apps, Google promises a better set of features for their routers via the Google Home app, such as prioritization of Zoom calls, Assistant-based voice controls, and new connected device notifications.

Originally, the Google Wifi app was built to set up and manage Google’s line of OnHub routers made with ASUS and TP-Link. While not explicitly mentioned in the email notice, these OnHub routers are also included in the transition away from Google Wifi over to Google Home with an identical migration process. It’s not clear if there will be a way to set up and manage a network without an Android or iOS smartphone.

While the shutdown of this app was inevitable, given the strong overlap between the two, it’s admittedly disappointing to see. Despite the Google Home app now being just as capable of managing networks, the proper Google Wifi app design made things easier to find and manage for those who want a bit more in-depth control over their network.