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Home Assistant 2023.11

home-assistant.io

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Re: Home Assistant 2023.11

#11

Post by herbst »

Toutouxc wrote: post #7

Hass is the kind of software that has a lot of rough edges, but you use it anyway because there's very little direct competition. And every release feels like so much stuff has been finally polished, but then you deploy the new version and there's still a lot of stuff that feels or looks weird (the part-bad-UI-part-YAML automation). I have been using it for a couple of years now and I still haven't decided whether I…

Competition is relative. You have mqtt, node red, ... You can piece together your own automations very easily using ready to use common components and some code.

I am sure most just use the components as they are and use their own automation stuff. Like my mqtt stick that has its own automation control built in. Mixed with Google home you nearly have full control (with many limitations I know)

IMO there is simply no need for a complex interface to control a few lights and power saving tricks.

Re: Home Assistant 2023.11

#12

Post by PennRobotics »

There's a decent amount of friction for a European resident trying to use HA.

The landing page has two products with pricing in dollars and nothing else w.r.t. hardware. Click "Getting started" and there's still no sign of what to buy. Click "Installation" and then there are 9+ platforms (and multiple subplatforms) but no quick and realistic comparison of features or pricing. Is a NUC12WSHi3 a better deal, more energy efficient, and better equipped to handle wake words than an ODROID-M1 4GB/16GB-uSD/256GB-NVMe Addict? Will I need to buy an add-on microphone? Do I need just one box/bridge for multiple stories of a large house and then some supporting hardware? Can I finally throw my Amazon devices into the electronics trash bin at Penny?

Even among HA products... It looks like I can get a Green from the official German supplier for 110 euros, from a different European vendor that I search on Google Shopping or Idealo for 103 euros, or from Slovakia for around 100 euros.

It's all of the inconsistencies and friction that keep me from using HA. I have a solid theory on Linux distros: the landing page is a good indicator of how much of a pain it will be to install and use. I suspect that's also true with HA.

8fingerlouie mentioned Homey. When I go to that landing page, there's a flag to switch region and a big Buy button. It's only a few clicks to switch to their non-Pro bridge, and the pricing is consistent on the page and with any vendor I search online.

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In any case, I'm not using a Home device until they remove Google from the wake word. I'm not using Alexa for its invasive behavior (most notably Amazon Sidewalk) and because the Philips skill mysteriously broke a few days ago, confusing the hell out of family members accustomed to a house full of working Philips lights with customized Alexa phrases. I'm not using Siri or Cortana ever.

I'd love to move on to a better platform and would even pay a premium to get an industrial controller like my workplace. Such a platform either needs a dedicated installer-maintainer or exists only in my imagination.

Re: Home Assistant 2023.11

#14

Post by M95D »

PennRobotics wrote: post #12

There's a decent amount of friction for a European resident trying to use HA. The landing page has two products with pricing in dollars and nothing else w.r.t. hardware. Click "Getting started" and there's still no sign of what to buy. Click "Installation" and then there are 9+ platforms (and multiple subplatforms) but no quick and realistic comparison of features or pricing. Is a NUC12WSHi3 a better deal, more energ…

HomeAssistant is software and is free. All the hardware that you see on that page are ads.

Re: Home Assistant 2023.11

#15

Post by redrove »

PennRobotics wrote: post #12

There's a decent amount of friction for a European resident trying to use HA. The landing page has two products with pricing in dollars and nothing else w.r.t. hardware. Click "Getting started" and there's still no sign of what to buy. Click "Installation" and then there are 9+ platforms (and multiple subplatforms) but no quick and realistic comparison of features or pricing. Is a NUC12WSHi3 a better deal, more energ…

I'm European as well but I fail to see what's preventing you from buying hardware and deploying HASS.

There's so many SBCs available now, in ARM or even x86 form (Zima Board).

Pick one and deploy HASS on it. Pricing in USD be damned.

Re: Home Assistant 2023.11

#16

Post by michh »

PennRobotics wrote: post #12

There's a decent amount of friction for a European resident trying to use HA. The landing page has two products with pricing in dollars and nothing else w.r.t. hardware. Click "Getting started" and there's still no sign of what to buy. Click "Installation" and then there are 9+ platforms (and multiple subplatforms) but no quick and realistic comparison of features or pricing. Is a NUC12WSHi3 a better deal, more energ…

I'm in Europe and this hasn't been my experience _at all_. I recently started using HA. I bought a HomeAssistant Yellow box which was very easy and got delivered to me speedily from within Europe. I set up my device and the web interface allowed me to link it to their cloud offering, where I could subscribe to the plan in euros - because it knew I was in The Netherlands. But it also works just fine without the subscription.

Re: Home Assistant 2023.11

#17

Post by robert_dipaolo »

pta2002 wrote: post #8
robert_dipaolo wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All the config can be done via YAML still. The UIs are just another option that makes it easier, as far as I can tell the UIs just build the YAML.

This is false. While you can set a lot of things through yaml, some like setting the MQTT broker have to be done via the UI.

Ah interesting, I didn't realise that! I often drop into the YAML to configure Automations, etc. I'm not using MQTT at the moment.

Re: Home Assistant 2023.11

#18

Post by hsbauauvhabzb »

Toutouxc wrote: post #7

Hass is the kind of software that has a lot of rough edges, but you use it anyway because there's very little direct competition. And every release feels like so much stuff has been finally polished, but then you deploy the new version and there's still a lot of stuff that feels or looks weird (the part-bad-UI-part-YAML automation). I have been using it for a couple of years now and I still haven't decided whether I…

I think the haas team have done remarkably well. Haas have some rough edges but rapidly improves with every release. Far better than some commercial software I use.

Re: Home Assistant 2023.11

#19

Post by pierregillesl »

Toutouxc wrote: post #7

Hass is the kind of software that has a lot of rough edges, but you use it anyway because there's very little direct competition. And every release feels like so much stuff has been finally polished, but then you deploy the new version and there's still a lot of stuff that feels or looks weird (the part-bad-UI-part-YAML automation). I have been using it for a couple of years now and I still haven't decided whether I…

We are making Gladys Assistant ( https://gladysassistant.com/ ), an open-source smart home software.

It's less "techy" than HA (no YAML files, no CLI), and UI first.

We have way less integrations for now, but are working hard on it.

Don't hesitate to try it and make us some feedback.

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