Home Assistant Podcast

Mostly Automated Media

Join hosts Phil Hawthorne and Rohan Karamandi as they explore the newest Home Assistant releases and the latest Home Automation news. Featuring guests who use or contribute to Home Assistant, the podcast aims to inspire new ways to make your home smarter.

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  1. 1d ago

    The Home Assistant Smart Home That Reminds, Nudges, and almost Pours Tea

    Phil and Rohan chat with Jason from the UK about building a truly proactive smart home with Home Assistant. From room-aware dashboards and presence detection to Alexa routines, Google Calendar, Todoist, Zigbee, ESP32s, and AI-powered driveway monitoring, Jason shares how he turned automations into a daily life assistant. Watch this episode on YouTube Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA242 Support the Podcast Get early-access to episodes and an ad-free feed by supporting our Patreon. https://homeassistant.fm/patreon Share your story We wouldn't be able to do this podcast without community members and home automation enthusiasts sharing their stories. To register your interest to come share your home automation journey, head over to homeassistant.fm and click share your story. Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction 00:02:06 Jason’s smart home journey 00:05:19 Voice, automations, and helpers 00:12:00 Car, tea, and problem solving 00:18:45 Presence detection and room dashboards 00:26:50 Wi-Fi, Zigbee, and Matter choices 00:34:35 Todoist and calendar automation 00:44:30 Doorbells, garages, and briefings 00:52:40 Driveway security and Gemini 00:58:03 Sports dashboards and future plans 01:05:07 Getting started with smarter automations This episode was made possible thanks to our sponsors Home Assistant Cloud by Nabu Casa Easily connect to Google and Amazon voice assistants for a small monthly fee that also supports the Home Assistant project. Sign up for your free trial in your Home Assistant system: https://my.home-assistant.io/redirect/cloud/ or visit https://nabucasa.com Zooz If you're looking to upgrade your smart home - you can’t go past Zooz! Zooz offers a range of affordable and innovative devices, including water leak sensors, water valve controllers, smart plugs and scene controllers. For the best prices on all Zooz products, head over to https://thesmartesthouse.com Apollo Automation Apollo Automation are the makers of open source smart home sensors built for the Home Assistant ecosystem. They're an official Open Home Foundation commercial partner and their devices are built with local control, privacy, and reliability in mind, giving you full control and flexibility right out of the box. Clean My Mac Get Tidy Today! Get 7 days free and use our code ASSISTANT for 20% off Products Discussed LinknLink presence sensor and IR blaster: https://amzn.to/4oXjLIF Products we Recommend Hosts Phil Hawthorne Website Twitter: @philhawthorne Bluesky: @philhawthorne.com Buy Phil a Coffee Rohan Karamandi Website Twitter: @rohank9 Buy Rohan a Coffee This episode contains Amazon affiliate links. If you click on one of them and make a purchase, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    The Home Assistant Smart Home That Reminds, Nudges, and almost Pours Tea

  2. 1d ago • Subscribers Only

    The Home Assistant Smart Home That Reminds, Nudges, and almost Pours Tea

    Phil and Rohan chat with Jason from the UK about building a truly proactive smart home with Home Assistant. From room-aware dashboards and presence detection to Alexa routines, Google Calendar, Todoist, Zigbee, ESP32s, and AI-powered driveway monitoring, Jason shares how he turned automations into a daily life assistant.

    The Home Assistant Smart Home That Reminds, Nudges, and almost Pours Tea

  3. Jul 7

    Omri Peretz the creator of QuickBars for Android TV

    In this episode Phil and Rohan chat with Omri, the creator of QuickBars, an Android TV and Google TV app for controlling Home Assistant from the couch. They dig into his smart home journey, how he replaced a slow proprietary Zigbee setup, and how Home Assistant became the central brain for his parents' house and his own apartment. Watch this episode on YouTube Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA241 Support the Podcast Get early-access to episodes and an ad-free feed by supporting our Patreon. https://homeassistant.fm/patreon Share your story We wouldn't be able to do this podcast without community members and home automation enthusiasts sharing their stories. To register your interest to come share your home automation journey, head over to homeassistant.fm and click share your story. Chapters 00:00:00 Intro 00:02:26 QuickBars overview 00:03:07 Broken smart home origin 00:05:58 Rebuilding with Home Assistant 00:10:04 Running two Home Assistant homes 00:14:51 House automations and cameras 00:18:57 Building QuickBars 00:28:29 App development lessons 00:31:34 Community response and use cases 00:35:04 Notification and camera features 00:38:40 Open source and AI coding 00:42:13 Apartment automations and alerts 00:48:39 Wrapping up QuickBars This episode was made possible thanks to our sponsors Home Assistant Cloud by Nabu Casa Easily connect to Google and Amazon voice assistants for a small monthly fee that also supports the Home Assistant project. Sign up for your free trial in your Home Assistant system: https://my.home-assistant.io/redirect/cloud/ or visit https://nabucasa.com Zooz If you're looking to upgrade your smart home - you can’t go past Zooz! Zooz offers a range of affordable and innovative devices, including water leak sensors, water valve controllers, smart plugs and scene controllers. For the best prices on all Zooz products, head over to https://thesmartesthouse.com Apollo Automation Apollo Automation are the makers of open source smart home sensors built for the Home Assistant ecosystem. They're an official Open Home Foundation commercial partner and their devices are built with local control, privacy, and reliability in mind, giving you full control and flexibility right out of the box. Products Discussed Google Coral: https://amzn.to/4b44TCm Nvidia Shield: https://amzn.to/4eCreYH HomePod: https://amzn.to/4uWeu5A Products we Recommend Hosts Phil Hawthorne Website Twitter: @philhawthorne Bluesky: @philhawthorne.com Buy Phil a Coffee Rohan Karamandi Website Twitter: @rohank9 Buy Rohan a Coffee This episode contains Amazon affiliate links. If you click on one of them and make a purchase, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    Omri Peretz the creator of QuickBars for Android TV

  4. Jul 1

    Home Assistant 2026.7 Brings The Biggest Automation Upgrade Yet

    Phil and Rohan unpack the massive 2026.7 release, including purpose-specific triggers and conditions graduating from Labs, the move to Matter.js, faster templates, improved dashboards, and better debugging tools. They also discuss mailbag comments and Rohan’s progress on his e-ink display. Watch this episode on YouTube Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA240 Support the Podcast Get early-access to episodes and an ad-free feed by supporting our Patreon. https://homeassistant.fm/patreon Share your story We wouldn't be able to do this podcast without community members and home automation enthusiasts sharing their stories. To register your interest to come share your home automation journey, head over to homeassistant.fm and click share your story. Chapters 00:00:00 Intro 00:02:10 Unify 2026 recap 00:10:45 Listener feedback and Yoto 00:28:40 E-Ink project update 00:32:43 Home Assistant 2026.7 00:40:52 Updates and integrations 00:50:40 Breaking changes and wrap-up This episode was made possible thanks to our sponsors Home Assistant Cloud by Nabu Casa Easily connect to Google and Amazon voice assistants for a small monthly fee that also supports the Home Assistant project. Sign up for your free trial in your Home Assistant system: https://my.home-assistant.io/redirect/cloud/ or visit https://nabucasa.com Zooz If you're looking to upgrade your smart home - you can’t go past Zooz! Zooz offers a range of affordable and innovative devices, including water leak sensors, water valve controllers, smart plugs and scene controllers. For the best prices on all Zooz products, head over to https://thesmartesthouse.com Apollo Automation Apollo Automation are the makers of open source smart home sensors built for the Home Assistant ecosystem. They're an official Open Home Foundation commercial partner and their devices are built with local control, privacy, and reliability in mind, giving you full control and flexibility right out of the box. Products we Recommend Hosts Phil Hawthorne Website Twitter: @philhawthorne Bluesky: @philhawthorne.com Buy Phil a Coffee Rohan Karamandi Website Twitter: @rohank9 Buy Rohan a Coffee This video contains Amazon affiliate links. If you click on one of them and make a purchase, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    Home Assistant 2026.7 Brings The Biggest Automation Upgrade Yet

  5. Jun 23

    Neil takes us through how he is using AI to build his ultimate smart home with Home Assistant

    Neil walks us through how he has managed to leverage AI tools to create his dream smart home with Home Assistant. From automating blinds to automating a winter cottage Watch this episode on YouTube Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA239 Support the Podcast Get early-access to episodes and an ad-free feed by supporting our Patreon. https://homeassistant.fm/patreon Share your story We wouldn't be able to do this podcast without community members and home automation enthusiasts sharing their stories. To register your interest to come share your home automation journey, head over to homeassistant.fm and click share your story. Chapters 00:00:00 - Welcome 00:01:21 - Neil’s background 00:03:33 - Starting with Google Home 00:04:53 - Lutron and motion sensors 00:06:06 - Complex HVAC challenge 00:08:52 - DIY manifold control 00:10:52 - Radiant cooling by dew point 00:13:23 - Gas vs electrification debate 00:15:51 - Coding with AI tools 00:19:59 - Sauna and smart blinds 00:24:21 - Cottage winter automation 00:31:20 - Remote access choices 00:33:55 - Multi-building MQTT design 00:40:41 - Plant care automation 00:44:54 - Device health monitoring 00:49:59 - Zigbee vs Z-Wave talk 00:55:06 - Future plans and tools 00:59:38 - Wrap-up This episode was made possible thanks to our sponsors Home Assistant Cloud by Nabu Casa Easily connect to Google and Amazon voice assistants for a small monthly fee that also supports the Home Assistant project. Sign up for your free trial in your Home Assistant system: https://my.home-assistant.io/redirect/cloud/ or visit https://nabucasa.com Zooz If you're looking to upgrade your smart home - you can’t go past Zooz! Zooz offers a range of affordable and innovative devices, including water leak sensors, water valve controllers, smart plugs and scene controllers. For the best prices on all Zooz products, head over to https://thesmartesthouse.com Apollo Automation Apollo Automation are the makers of open source smart home sensors built for the Home Assistant ecosystem. They're an official Open Home Foundation commercial partner and their devices are built with local control, privacy, and reliability in mind, giving you full control and flexibility right out of the box. Products we Recommend Hosts Phil Hawthorne Website Twitter: @philhawthorne Bluesky: @philhawthorne.com Buy Phil a Coffee Rohan Karamandi Website Twitter: @rohank9 Buy Rohan a Coffee Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    Neil takes us through how he is using AI to build his ultimate smart home with Home Assistant

  6. Jun 16

    From an Orange Bulb to a Smart Home: Claudia’s Home Assistant Journey

    Claudia joins Phil and Rohan to share how an orange Philips Hue bulb sparked a full-blown smart home powered by Home Assistant. Watch this episode on YouTube Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA238 Support the Podcast Get early-access to episodes and an ad-free feed by supporting our Patreon. https://homeassistant.fm/patreon Share your story We wouldn't be able to do this podcast without community members and home automation enthusiasts sharing their stories. To register your interest to come share your home automation journey, head over to homeassistant.fm and click share your story. Chapters 00:00:00 - Intro 00:03:35 - Early lights to Apple Home 00:06:24 - Why local-first and fewer subs 00:07:59 - Server closet hardware and UDM 00:10:24 - Magic lights with mmWave 00:15:12 - Nap-time button and scenes 00:19:22 - Local voice, Music Assistant 00:27:03 - Protocols: Zigbee, Z-Wave, Thread 00:31:00 - Door sensors and recessed mods 00:34:40 - Climate data and ESPHome AC 00:38:30 - Ceiling fans and canopy modules 00:41:30 - Partner approval and tweaks 00:44:30 - Cats: Litter-Robot and cameras 00:45:15 - Robot vacuums and Valetudo 00:48:30 - Dashboards that are simple 00:52:10 - YAML, AI helpers, and costs 00:56:20 - Cloud-optional philosophy 01:01:06 - Robot mowers and real limits 01:01:06 - Humanoid robots chat and wrap This episode was made possible thanks to our sponsors Home Assistant Cloud by Nabu Casa Easily connect to Google and Amazon voice assistants for a small monthly fee that also supports the Home Assistant project. Sign up for your free trial in your Home Assistant system: https://my.home-assistant.io/redirect/cloud/ or visit https://nabucasa.com Zooz If you're looking to upgrade your smart home - you can’t go past Zooz! Zooz offers a range of affordable and innovative devices, including water leak sensors, water valve controllers, smart plugs and scene controllers. For the best prices on all Zooz products, head over to https://thesmartesthouse.com Apollo Automation Apollo Automation are the makers of open source smart home sensors built for the Home Assistant ecosystem. They're an official Open Home Foundation commercial partner and their devices are built with local control, privacy, and reliability in mind, giving you full control and flexibility right out of the box. Clean My Mac Get Tidy Today! Get 7 days free and use our code ASSISTANT for 20% off Products Discussed Unifi Dream Machine (UDM) router: https://amzn.to/4wPeLJG Aqara FP1E mmWave presence sensor (Zigbee): https://amzn.to/4wLIrXY Products we Recommend Hosts Phil Hawthorne Website Twitter: @philhawthorne Bluesky: @philhawthorne.com Buy Phil a Coffee Rohan Karamandi Website Twitter: @rohank9 Buy Rohan a Coffee This episode contains affiliate links. If you click on one of them and make a purchase, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    From an Orange Bulb to a Smart Home: Claudia’s Home Assistant Journey

  7. Jun 9

    From Tuya to Home Assistant: A Kiwi’s Smart Home Journey

    Steve from New Zealand (Kiwi Smart Tech) shares his journey from Tuya bulbs to a powerful Home Assistant setup. We dig into garage door woes and wins, cross‑protocol sensors, mmWave presence, and why Apple Home is his go‑to interface Watch this episode on YouTube Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA237 Support the Podcast Get early-access to episodes and an ad-free feed by supporting our Patreon. https://homeassistant.fm/patreon Share your story We wouldn't be able to do this podcast without community members and home automation enthusiasts sharing their stories. To register your interest to come share your home automation journey, head over to homeassistant.fm and click share your story. Chapters 00:00:00 Intro 00:03:00 Steve’s Kiwi smart home origin 00:10:15 First Home Assistant wins and fails 00:16:00 Garage door saga and ESPHome 00:23:50 Access control 00:28:01 From tinkerer to creator 00:41:00 Apple Home as UI 00:46:30 Ambient alerts: plants, leaks 00:55:10 Appliances, HACS, lock‑in 01:04:00 Cameras and continuous video 01:07:30 Wrap‑up and links This episode was made possible thanks to our sponsors Home Assistant Cloud by Nabu Casa Easily connect to Google and Amazon voice assistants for a small monthly fee that also supports the Home Assistant project. Configuration is via the User Interface so no fiddling with router settings, dynamic DNS, or YAML. Zooz If you're looking to upgrade your smart home - you can’t go past Zooz! Zooz offers a range of affordable and innovative devices, including water leak sensors, water valve controllers, smart plugs and scene controllers. For the best prices on all Zooz products, head over to https://thesmartesthouse.com Apollo Automation Apollo Automation are the makers of open source smart home sensors built for the Home Assistant ecosystem. They're an official Open Home Foundation commercial partner and their devices are built with local control, privacy, and reliability in mind, giving you full control and flexibility right out of the box. Products we Recommend Hosts Phil Hawthorne Website Twitter: @philhawthorne Bluesky: @philhawthorne.com Buy Phil a Coffee Rohan Karamandi Website Twitter: @rohank9 Buy Rohan a Coffee Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    From Tuya to Home Assistant: A Kiwi’s Smart Home Journey

  8. Jun 3

    Home Assistant 2026.6, E‑Ink Unboxing, Yoto, and Smarter Automations

    Rohan and Phil are breaking down the 2026.6 release, which features updates for Infrared, Purpose specific triggers and conditions. Plus we talk KVM’s, eInk displays and starting from scratch in 2026. Watch this episode on YouTube Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA236 Support the Podcast Get early-access to episodes and an ad-free feed by supporting our Patreon. https://homeassistant.fm/patreon Share your story We wouldn't be able to do this podcast without community members and home automation enthusiasts sharing their stories. To register your interest to come share your home automation journey, head over to homeassistant.fm and click share your story. Chapters 00:00:00 - Intro 00:04:30 - New Works With HA gear 00:06:30 - Open Display collab, e‑ink 00:12:00 - E‑ink uses and costs 00:16:30 - OHF privacy paper 00:18:30 - RF and plugs 00:26:00 - JetKVM and PiKVM talk 00:29:30 - 2026.6: IR receivers 00:34:30 - Dashboards and Matter BLE 00:36:32 - Cards and automations 00:42:30 - Z‑Wave, Sonos, Reolink, Tuya 00:47:30 - New integrations roundup 00:54:30 - Breaking changes 00:56:30 - Fresh HA vs restore 01:00:00 - UniFi hiccup resilience 01:02:00 - Wrap‑up and callouts This episode was made possible thanks to our sponsors Home Assistant Cloud by Nabu Casa Easily connect to Google and Amazon voice assistants for a small monthly fee that also supports the Home Assistant project. Configuration is via the User Interface so no fiddling with router settings, dynamic DNS, or YAML. Zooz If you're looking to upgrade your smart home - you can’t go past Zooz! Zooz offers a range of affordable and innovative devices, including water leak sensors, water valve controllers, smart plugs and scene controllers. For the best prices on all Zooz products, head over to https://thesmartesthouse.com Apollo Automation Apollo Automation are the makers of open source smart home sensors built for the Home Assistant ecosystem. They're an official Open Home Foundation commercial partner and their devices are built with local control, privacy, and reliability in mind, giving you full control and flexibility right out of the box. Products Discussed JetKVM IP KVM: https://amzn.to/4wU1bEO Yale Z‑Wave smart locks: https://amzn.to/4visNSl MyPropane tank monitor: https://amzn.to/3QjJZbn Yoto audio player: https://amzn.to/4xlZhNJ Products we Recommend Hosts Phil Hawthorne Website Twitter: @philhawthorne Bluesky: @philhawthorne.com Buy Phil a Coffee Rohan Karamandi Website Twitter: @rohank9 Buy Rohan a Coffee This episode contains Amazon affiliate links. If you click on one of them and make a purchase, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    Home Assistant 2026.6, E‑Ink Unboxing, Yoto, and Smarter Automations
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4.8
out of 5
74 Ratings

About

Join hosts Phil Hawthorne and Rohan Karamandi as they explore the newest Home Assistant releases and the latest Home Automation news. Featuring guests who use or contribute to Home Assistant, the podcast aims to inspire new ways to make your home smarter.

Information

  • Creator
    Mostly Automated Media
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2026
  • Episodes
    259
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Mostly Automated Media Pty Ltd
  • Show Website
    Home Assistant Podcast
  • Provider
    Mostly Automated Media

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