Set up and use Activity Zones

Home app

Note: If the option to create Activity Zones doesn’t appear in the Home app, follow the Nest app instructions in the section below.

1. Open the Google Home app .
2. Tap Favorites or Devices ..
3. Select the camera that you want to make an Activity Zone for.
4. Tap More  Settings  Events  Seen Events.
5. Choose + Add a zone. The new zone appears in the middle of the camera’s view.
6. Change the shape of the zone to capture what you want.
   • Turn your phone to go into landscape mode for a full screen of your camera’s view. Make sure the screen rotation setting on your phone is on. 
   • Tap and drag inside the zone to move it.
   • Tap and drag any of the 8 dots on the sides of the zone to change its shape.
7. To change the color of the Activity Zone, tap Zone color. You can pick from 4 different colors.
8. Under the camera view, tap on the Zone name to give your zone a descriptive name.
9. Under Event History, you can choose which types of events you want to record in that zone and which notifications you want to receive.

Nest app

1. Select the camera that you want to make an Activity Zone for.
2. Tap Settings .

3. Select Activity Zones. Note: You need to have an active Nest Aware subscription. Otherwise, the Activity Zone option won't appear.

4. Tap Create Zone . The new zone appears in the middle of the screen.
   
5. Turn your phone to go into landscape mode for a full screen of your camera’s view. Make sure the screen rotation setting on your phone is on.
6. Tap and drag inside the zone to move it.
7. Tap and drag any of the 8 points on the sides of the zones to change its shape.
8. On the bottom of the screen, tap one of the colored circles to change the color of Activity Zone. You can pick from 4 different colors.
9. At the top of the screen, tap the pencil  to give your zone a descriptive name. Then, tap the check mark  to save the zone name.
10. Tap the check mark  to save the zone.

After you create a zone

Any events that happen within an Activity Zone are color coded to match the zone, even if they happened before you created the zone.

Home app

Note: If the option to create Activity Zones doesn’t appear in the Home app, follow the Nest app instructions in the section below.

1. Open the Google Home app .
2. Tap Favorites or Devices ..
3. Select the camera with the Activity Zone that you want to edit.
4.  Tap Settings   Events  Seen Events.
5. Update the zone with the changes you want to make. The app saves your changes automatically.

Nest app

1. Select the camera with the Activity Zone you want to edit.
2. Tap Settings .
3. Select Activity Zones.
4. Select the zone you want to edit.
5. Change the zone as you like. You can change its size, shape, color and name, just like you would if you create a new Activity Zone.
6. Tap the check mark  to save. If you change your mind, at the top left corner, tap Cancel .

You can move an Activity Zone and change its shape to fit around any area or object you want to keep an eye on. 

Click and drag inside the zone to move it. Click and drag any of the 8 points on the sides of the zone to change its shape. At the bottom left corner of the screen, click the colored circle to change the color of the Activity Zone. You can pick from 4 different colors. Once you've given the Activity Zone the shape and color you want, give it a descriptive name. At the bottom left corner of your browser, type the name into the box. To save the new Activity Zone, select Done.

Although Activity Zones doesn’t change the footage your camera streams and records, when you add a zone, you can get more useful alerts as it tells you where the motion happened.

If you already have a zone set up, you can use the Nest app to manage whether or not you get notifications to alert you when there’s motion in that zone.

1. Go to your camera’s video stream in the Nest app.
2. Select Settings .
3. Select Notifications.
4. To get alerts within the zone, tap a zone’s name, then select People or All other motion, or both. If you have a doorbell, you can also select Packages, which can let you know that a package has been dropped off or picked up within its view.

Note: If People is selected, you get an alert even if there’s a partial view of a person within the zone, such as an arm.

You can also personalize your alerts in the Home app.

If you have email alerts or push notifications enabled for your camera, you also get a snapshot of what your camera detected when it sent you the alert.

When you delete an Activity Zone, it doesn't erase footage from your video history, but it removes markers on your timeline that show when your camera noticed activity there.

1. Use a web browser to sign into your account at home.nest.com.
2. Select the camera that has the Activity Zone you want to delete.
3. At the bottom right corner, click Activity Zones .
4. Select the zone that you want to remove.
5. Click on the red Delete button.