Show Notes
We’re diving into Home Assistant 2026.5 and re-capping the highlights from State of the Open Home 2026. There’s new RS-232 serial control, dashboard strategies, and more purpose-specific triggers.
Watch this episode on YouTube Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA232
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Chapters 00:00:00 Intro 00:10:30 Roadmap deep-dive and HTTP 80 00:15:30 Easter eggs, Project BLAST, merch 00:19:30 IR databases and Z-Wave spectrum 00:23:00 2026.5: RS-232 and RF proxies 00:28:30 RF rolling codes and SDR hopes 00:31:30 Dashboards: strategies and shortcuts 00:36:00 Vacuums chat and power strip ad 00:41:00 Purpose-specific triggers (Labs) 00:44:00 MQTT, Matter, ESPHome updates 00:46:30 Shelly, Sonos, groups, and S1/S2 00:50:30 Apple TV typing, WLED, notifications 00:54:00 Immich photos, Subaru, and UniFi 00:57:00 New integrations roundup 01:00:00 Breaking changes: Ring, webhooks 01:01:30 Template docs overhaul 01:02:30 Network outage story and resilience 01:05:30 Wrap-up and sign-off
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 Broadlink RM4 Pro (433 MHz IR/RF blaster): https://amzn.to/4tesZk8 UniFi Protect PoE Smart Siren: https://amzn.to/4w4ZWCh 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
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