I recently discovered Kiosk Satellite, a purpose-built, open-source Android app for Home Assistant, and decided to test it out on my desk tablet.

Moving away from proprietary apps for local-first alternatives feels like a massive win. Setting it up with a dedicated static IP and using the built-in web UI on port 2324 makes remote administration effortless.

Curious what others are using for their dashboard setups, let me know in the comments.

I have a syncbox with an apple box and playstation in hdmi 1&2. Usually using the apple remote turns on the apple box which them turns on the sync and tv. Starting this week, using the apple remote turns on the apple tv which turns on the sync box which turns on the playstation!

I dont know what changed, I did not change any settings.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but...

Buyer Beware! Aqara hubs use the Zigbee protocol, but lock out 3rd party devices!

A few months ago, I bought an Aqara hub and went deep into their ecosystem. I saw their hub and sensors had good reviews, plus they were using the Zigbee open protocol, so I figured I'd stick with their stuff. I had no reason to try other devices until recently.

I picked up a tilt sensor for my garage door from a 3rd party. I made sure it was also using the Zigbee protocol, so I assumed it would be compatable. Unfortunately, when I tried connecting it to the hub, I was wrong and it wouldn't connect. Turns out, Aqara uses the Zigbee protocol, but locks out 3rd party devices. [source]

If anyone has a workaround to integrate a 3rd party device with an Aqara Hub (IIRC, I have the M3?), I'd love to hear about it. But until then - I'm looking for a refund. I would have never picked up their hub if I had known about their shennanigans; and consequently, I wouldn't have picked up so many of their sensors.

Hola!

I am in Spain, and just today found out the model of my AC (it’s very difficult to access). It’s a Fujitsu General ARH 45 LUAN split system.

I was thinking of getting a smart controller for it, but so far I have been unsuccessful figuring out if there is a smart solution for this AC - native or third party - so I would be grateful for any tips and ideas.

The AC is a duct type system with just a wall-mounted control (no IR receiver).

I've spent the last couple of weeks trying — and mostly failing — to test Ikea’s new Matter-over-Thread gear. These highly anticipated smart home devices include programmable buttons, smart bulbs, plugs, and temperature and motion sensors — all of which should work with any smart home platform and start at just $6.

But I’ve hit several walls trying to connect them to any smart home platform, and I’m not alone. The Tradfri subreddit is filled with Ikea customers sharing similar frustrations, reviews on Ikea’s website point to issues, and colleagues at The Verge have also been having problems

The old (but still relatively new) smart home offerings from Ikea utilized Zigbee. Think light bulbs, remotes, leak sensors, air quality, outlets with power monitoring, etc.

The new devices will soon transition to Matter (many I have tried use Thread but some might use WiFi in the future).

I have the leak and CO2/2.5um air quality matter sensors and Zigbee leak, outlets with power monitoring, lights, remotes, door open/close sensors.

I would recommend the new and old Ikea sensors. They all run with AAA batteries instead of random coin cell batteries. They seem to have almost all functionality implemented in Home Assistant.

I'm really just posting this in hopes that it helps someone in a similar situation in the future.

Long story short, I ended up removing my Atomi smart space heater (AT1481) from the Atomi smart app while attempting to troubleshoot time zones. This was a problem because Atomi removed the heaters from the app entirely when the recall went out. No amount of installing old APKs would allow me to add the heater back to the app. I tried using other apps like SmartLife to add it back through their interface, but no luck. The one thing I actually needed from the app was to set a schedule for it to automatically turn on and off. Well, it turns out that this model doesn't have modern safety mechanisms that require you to manually turn the heater back on when the power goes out and comes back on (I wouldn't be surprised if this was part of the reason for the recall, and not just the smart functions). If you use a smart plug, you can actually set a schedule to turn the heater off and on and it will retain all the previous settings and resume heating. Other settings will still require you to manually set them on the heater, but this allowed me to solve the one need that I personally had. I hope someday it can help others too!

Disclaimer: Running a space heater unattended can be very dangerous! Do not do this if you are concerned about children or pets knocking the heater or something else over that can create a fire hazard!

Hey guys,

I don't know if you'd count vacuum robots as smart home as well, but I guess this might be interesting: Vorwerk, owner of Neato Robotics, has closed down the cloud features for Neato Botvacs - three years earlier than they promised to.

A petition is going strong against it.

I'd be happy if you could sign and share. Even if you are not affected today, it could be a strong sign for other vendors as well...

https://www.openpetition.org/us/petition/online/vorwerk-need-to-stop-destroying-working-hardware-keep-neato-robotics-cloud-alive

Announced one year ago was KDE Internet of Things "Kiot" with an emphasis on providing nice integration between the KDE Plasma desktop and Home Assistant for handling open-source home automation. Development on Kiot sadly fell through the cracks for most of the year but development on it recently restarted.

KDE developer David Edmundson shared that Kiot development has recently been restarted thanks to contributions from new developer Odd Østlie. Odd has been working on new features around Bluetooth, audio device handling, battery state handling for different devices, media mplayer / MPRIS connection, and more.

Home Assistant 2025.12! 🎄

As the year winds down and the holidays approach, we’re closing out 2025 with a release that’s all about giving you more control and a little bit of magic. ✨

This month, we’re unveiling Home Assistant Labs, a brand-new space where you can preview features before they go mainstream. And what better way to kick it off than with Winter mode? ❄️ Enable it and watch snowflakes drift across your dashboard. It’s completely unnecessary, utterly delightful, and exactly the kind of thing we love to build. ❄️

cross-posted from: https://lazysoci.al/post/37937579

Wanted to post my frustrations. Some years ago these plugs used to work nicely. Now for two years they disconnect themselves every week until I remove them from power for a bit. This makes them USELESS. I don't know what firmware version did this.

Their explanation is it's my wifi doing this. However, they are the only devices having any problems. If it was my wifi, how come they need a hard reset and then work flawlessly for a week or so?

They also need the app, an internet connection and you have to make an account with Tapo to use them.

Stay away!

Going to move to zigbee plugs, considering Ikea Tretakt now.

Hey y'all, I'm wondering what (if any) privacy-respecting Smart Home products there are. I understand that "smart" things are inherently privacy invasive, but I'd imagine some are worse than others. Surely Amazon Alexa isn't the best, right?

I'm really not looking for anything special, just a company with some basic smart items (bulbs and outlets mostly) and a mobile app that doesn't suck and doesn't ask to read my text messages to dim the lights.

TIA and please LMK if this isnt the right forum for this question.