The hosts discuss the 2023.9 release, Home Assistant's 10th anniversary, and upcoming release party and birthday celebration events. They talk about improvements to setup and device configuration, including new features for tile cards and climate control. They also mention new features and updates, such as Schlage locks and Swedish traffic camera feeds, and discuss challenges with ads and plans for podcast improvement. The hosts provide advice on maintaining Zigbee network stability and share a listener's positive experience. They express gratitude to listeners and discuss a cool card collection.
The 2023.9 release of Home Assistant introduces a redesigned onboarding flow that simplifies the setup process, making it easier for new users to get started without complex configurations or YAML editing.
The latest release of Home Assistant enhances the Tile Cards feature, allowing users to change modes for climate devices and adjust color temperature for light cards, providing a more customizable and seamless smart home experience.
Deep dives
New onboarding flow and easier setup
The new release of Home Assistant (2023.9) includes a redesigned onboarding flow that simplifies the setup process. With this update, users can easily set up their Home Assistant for the first time without the need for complex configurations or YAML editing. The new onboarding flow intelligently detects location, currency, and measurement units, making the setup experience smooth and user-friendly. The interface is now more intuitive and resembles an actual app, ensuring that new users can easily navigate through the setup wizard. Overall, this feature aims to make getting started with Home Assistant much easier and more accessible.
Improved Tile Cards with enhanced functionality
The latest release of Home Assistant introduces enhancements to Tile Cards, offering users more control and functionality. With this update, Tile Cards now allow users to change modes for climate devices and adjust color temperature for light cards. This means that users can now fine-tune specific settings and have greater control over their climate and lighting systems. Additionally, the new release also includes improvements to the climate more info dialogue, providing a more visually appealing and user-friendly interface. These enhancements to Tile Cards ensure a more seamless and customizable smart home experience.
Introduction of Lawn Mower Platform
One of the notable additions in the 2023.9 release of Home Assistant is the introduction of the Lawn Mower platform. This new platform enables integration with smart lawnmowers, allowing users to seamlessly control and monitor their lawn care devices. Users can now connect smart lawnmowers via third-party libraries or supported brands, such as those available in the release. This platform expansion not only expands the range of devices that can be integrated with Home Assistant, but also provides users with more options and convenience when it comes to managing their outdoor spaces.
Improved Helper Template Setup and Live Preview
The new release of Home Assistant brings improvements to the Helper Template setup process. Users can now create template sensors directly from the user interface, eliminating the need for manual configurations in YAML files. Additionally, a live preview feature has been introduced, displaying how the template sensor will look and function based on the provided options. This live preview enhances the user experience by allowing users to visualize the sensor's values and appearance before finalizing the setup. These improvements offer users greater flexibility and convenience in creating and customizing template sensors within Home Assistant.
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.