Google rolls out new look for Android QR Scanner as old Nest Cams face ongoing offline problems

Google is making changes across its ecosystem, bringing a fresh design to a widely used Android feature while simultaneously dealing with a frustrating issue affecting some of its smart home camera users. The updated look for Android’s built-in QR code scanner, which was shown off and then quickly taken away earlier this year, is now being rolled out again to devices.

You can get to this scanner quickly from the shortcuts panel or your phone’s lock screen. The new design takes up the whole screen for a better view of what you are scanning, and it moves all the main options, like turning on the flash or picking a file from your storage, into a simple button shape at the bottom. This makes it much easier to use with just one hand.

Once you successfully scan a code, a small box pops up at the bottom with clear choices to open the website, copy the text, or share the link. This feature is returning now with the latest update, version 25.46.32, of Google Play Services on various Android phones.

Meanwhile, some users of older smart home equipment are having trouble with their cameras. For the past two months, owners of the first-generation Nest Cam Indoor, which came out back in 2015, have noticed that their devices keep showing up as “offline” in the Google Home app. This is happening even though the cameras themselves are still plugged in and working fine.

Google had previously made it possible for people to move these older cameras from the outdated Nest app into the main Google Home app, allowing everything to be managed in one place. However, the current problem means these cameras are unusable through the Home app, and simple fixes like restarting the camera or changing settings only work for a short time before the device drops offline again.

There are also reports that this problem is happening with the older Nest Hello doorbell, though other older camera models seem fine. While Google has been good about supporting older devices recently, the company has not yet said anything about this offline issue, leaving users to wait for a solution.