Nest's thermostat gets smarter with support for more third-party devices

August smart lock, Philips Hue lights, and Automatic's driving assistant now work with Nest

Nest is today announcing a handful of new additions to the company's "Works with Nest" program, a designation given to third-party smart home products and appliances that can communicate with Nest's learning thermostat and smoke detector. And there are some fairly big names — 15 in all — coming on to help keep the temperature in your home at the perfect level. August's Smart Lock can now interact with Nest, for example, and the pairing could be hugely useful if you happen to own both. Lock your doors and Nest will automatically go into away mode (and save energy in the process). Once you unlock the door and head in upon returning, Nest will toggle back into home mode and set things back to a comfortable temperature.

Got Philips Hue lightbulbs installed throughout the house? They can now flash to make it immediately obvious whenever your Nest Protect smoke / CO detector goes off; that could be helpful if the Protect is in another room. Even cars can now communicate with Nest — if you're using Automatic. The system designed to better your driving habits can now automatically tell your Nest that you're headed home and warm things up in preparation.

But the new Works with Nest additions extend to appliances too. LG's networked appliances can talk to Nest to help figure out when you’ve left home. If Nest knows no one is home, it'll tell LG's refrigerator to enter power saving mode, or LG can send you a notification if Nest thinks you've accidentally left the oven on.

More third-party apps like Lutron and Insteon can now control Nest, as well. Most of these partnerships are starting very soon. But others, like the pretty great tie-in with Whirlpool's washing machine, will come a bit later in the year. And then there's Big Ass Fans; if Nest detects the temperature in your house is dropping, it can tell your Big Ass Fan to enter "winter mode" and redirect hot air downward to warm things up — without having to turn up the thermostat every time.

Nest says that one in 10 of its customers are utilizing the Works with Nest platform in some capacity, a good sign that consumers are eager for a smarter home. And if that's the end goal, partnerships like these and wide compatibility will be critical to making it happen. Keep in mind that Nest already works with popular devices like Jawbone fitness trackers, Logitech remotes, Dropcam security cameras, and services like Google Now and IFTTT. We doubt Nest will be tagging up with Honeywell anytime soon, but the company seems determined to gather plenty of other smart home products under its umbrella. Here's the full list of what's coming.

Now: August smart lock, Automatic driving assistant, Insteon, LG appliances, Lutron, Ooma Telo, Philips Hue, Unikey / Kevo smart lock, Withings Aura sleep system
Later: Beep Dial (February), Big Ass Fans (February), Chargepoint home EV charging stations (June), Whirlpool appliances (April), Zuli smart plug (April)

News Credits : The Verge