2026.1 breaking changes summary

Rohan and Phil are here to break down the 2026.1 release. We’re talking Home Dashboard improvements, a new multi-room audio protocol from Music Assistant, and of course some Zigbee quirks thrown into the mix

Watch this episode on YouTube

Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA216

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 - New Year, housekeeping, sponsors

00:03:00 - SendSpin: open sync audio arrives

00:10:00 - Cross‑ecosystem sync caveats

00:14:00 - Voice PE audio and DIY speakers

00:16:00 - Listener Q&A and AI log help

00:20:00 - 2026.1 mobile Home dashboard

00:24:00 - Purpose‑specific triggers expansion

00:27:00 - New integrations

00:31:00 - Labels/templates for presence

00:37:00 - Protocol hubs, Matter, graphs, devices

00:41:00 - Breaking changes, EcoWitt PSA, CES

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

Products Discussed

Roborock Q7 robot vacuum: https://amzn.to/4bkyEjo

EcoWitt weather station: https://amzn.to/4jBcX0M

Sonos One: https://amzn.to/4pmsz9H

Hosts

Phil Hawthorne

Website

Smart Home Products

Twitter: @philhawthorne

Bluesky: @philhawthorne.com

Buy Phil a Coffee

Rohan Karamandi

Website

Smart Home Products

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.