The August update of Home Assistant has arrived, and it brings a host of new features and improvements. Among the highlights are enhancements to shopping lists, support for wild cards, improved language translations, and AI image support. The most significant change, however, is the overhaul of event handling, which makes it much easier to work with events directly in the UI.
With the new event entity, users can easily capture events and use them in automations without the need for developer tools. Additionally, Services can now be translated into the user’s native language, providing a more seamless experience. Wild cards support opens up a whole new way to use voice assistants, while the AI image generation is a fun addition that could have practical applications.
Key Takeaways
- The August update of Home Assistant brings a host of new features and improvements, including enhancements to shopping lists, wild cards support, and improved language translations.
- The overhaul of event handling is the most significant change, making it much easier to work with events directly in the UI.
- The addition of new integrations, minor updates, and breaking changes round out the release.
Event Handling Overhaul
The August update of Home Assistant, 2023.8, brings a significant improvement to the way events are handled. This update adds a new entity specifically for capturing events, making it much easier to work with events directly in the UI.
Previously, dealing with events in Home Assistant could be a pain, especially when trying to create an automation for a device like a Zigbee remote that generates events. Users had to listen for events, pick out the relevant information, and paste it into their automation, only to find out that it didn’t work.
With the new update, events are immediately displayed in both the entity and the logbook, along with information on whether it was a single press, hold, double press, or other types of events. Users can easily use these events in their automations, without having to mess around in developer tools to capture the right information.
While this new feature has not been magically added to every device and integration in Home Assistant, it has been added to the MQTT, Matter, Philips Hue, and HomeKit integrations, which is a good start. Hopefully, we will see many more integrations added in the next couple of releases.
The new event handling overhaul is a welcome addition to Home Assistant, as it vastly improves the user experience when dealing with events. It is now much easier to capture and use events directly in the UI, making it a powerful tool for creating automations.
Language Translations Improvement
The August update of Home Assistant has brought many improvements, including Language Translations Improvement. Previously, when navigating around the Home Assistant UI, users would find that most things would show up properly in the language that they had configured, for example, German. However, when creating an automation where selecting a service, such as turning on a light, those would appear in English. This could be a pretty jarring user experience.
In the 2023.8 update, Services can now be translated into the user’s native language, making the user experience much nicer. Not all services have been translated yet, but a good chunk of them already have, and it should only vastly improve over the next couple of releases.
This is a much-needed feature for those who aren’t native speakers of English. It shows that Home Assistant is committed to making the platform accessible to everyone, regardless of their language.
The Language Translations Improvement is a small but significant step in the right direction. It is an example of how Home Assistant is continuously improving its platform and making it more user-friendly. With this improvement, users can now navigate the platform more comfortably, without having to worry about language barriers.
Overall, the Language Translations Improvement is a welcome addition to the Home Assistant platform. It is a testament to the platform’s commitment to providing its users with the best possible experience.
Wild Cards Support
The latest update of Home Assistant, 2023.8, brings a new exciting feature called Wild Cards Support. This feature allows users to use placeholders or wildcards instead of hardcoding new sentences each time. Wild Cards Support is a powerful feature that opens up a whole new way to use your voice with assist.
With Wild Cards Support, users can add a custom sentence to an automation that lets them play any of their camera streams on any media player they have in the house using a single sentence. This eliminates the need to hardcode all the different possible combinations into an automation and trying to make it work. Wild Cards Support can do this for you, making it extremely powerful.
The possibilities of Wild Cards Support are endless. You can ask for a light to turn on with a certain effect or color or potentially play media from Jellyfin on your TV. The feature also powers the next edition, which is Assist that supports adding items to your shopping list using your voice, making it a convenient way to remember items next time you go shopping.
However, the Wild Cards Support feature has some limitations. At the moment, it only supports adding single items, so you can’t list a bunch of items using your voice and then have them all added as individual items just yet. You also can’t remove items either, but this is a good start, and it shows the power of Wild Cards.
Overall, Wild Cards Support is a welcome addition to Home Assistant, and it shows the commitment of the development team to deliver powerful and useful features to users. With Wild Cards Support, users can enjoy a more convenient and efficient way of automating their homes.
Voice-Assisted Shopping List
One of the exciting new features in the August update of Home Assistant is the Voice-Assisted Shopping List. With this new addition, users can easily add items to their shopping list using their voice, making it a convenient way to remember things next time they go shopping.
To use this feature, users simply need to add a prompt through the new service in Home Assistant. Using the service response feature added in last month’s release, it will give you a link to a URL with the image that it generated, which you can then use in scripts or automations or to display on your dashboard.
At the moment, the Voice-Assisted Shopping List only supports adding single items, so you cannot list a bunch of items using your voice and then have them all added as individual items just yet. Additionally, users cannot remove items either, but this is a good start, and it shows the power of wild cards.
The possibilities for this feature are endless, and it could be a game-changer for busy households. No more scribbling down items on a piece of paper or trying to remember what you need to buy. With the Voice-Assisted Shopping List, you can simply speak and add items to your list, making shopping a breeze.
Overall, the Voice-Assisted Shopping List is a great addition to Home Assistant, and we are excited to see what other voice features will be added in the future.
AI Image Generation
The August update of Home Assistant has brought a new feature called AI image generation. This feature enables users to generate AI images through open AI’s Dali service using the conversation agent.
To use this feature, users need to have an account set up with open AI and be willing to pay for it. Once set up, users can simply add a prompt through the new generate image show service in Home Assistant. The service response feature added in the previous month’s release will give users a link to a URL with the generated image, which they can then use in scripts, automations, or display on their dashboard.
While the practical use of this feature may be limited, it could be a fun addition for users, especially for kids. This feature is a great example of the power of Home Assistant’s integration capabilities and the endless possibilities that come with it.
Overall, the AI image generation feature is a welcome addition to Home Assistant, further expanding its capabilities and providing users with more options to customize their smart home experience.
Minor Updates
The August update of Home Assistant has arrived, bringing with it a range of new features and improvements. Among these are several minor updates that are worth noting.
Firstly, blueprint creators can now add a new condition selector to their blueprints for even more customization. This is a useful addition for those who are looking to create more complex automations with specific conditions.
In addition, the first install experience has been improved with a new address searching panel to set your location. This replaces the old method of dragging a pin around on a map, making it easier and more intuitive to set up your location.
The EasyVis and Roborock integrations have also been improved to include even more entities and device types. This is great news for those who use these devices and want to integrate them seamlessly into their Home Assistant setup.
There have also been performance improvements when visiting add-ons, making it faster and more efficient to manage your add-ons. And finally, the Unify integration now supports QR codes for access, adding an extra layer of security to your setup.
While these updates may seem minor, they all contribute to making Home Assistant a more powerful and user-friendly platform. As always, the Home Assistant team is dedicated to improving the platform and providing users with the best possible experience.
New Integrations
The August update of Home Assistant has brought a slew of new integrations to the platform, adding even more functionality and flexibility to this already powerful home automation system. In total, six new integrations have been added, including two that can be set up directly from the UI, rather than through YAML configuration.
One of the most exciting new integrations is the integration with the new Powerpal device, which allows users to monitor and track their energy usage in real-time. This integration makes it easy to see where energy is being used and to identify areas where energy can be saved.
Another new integration is the integration with the new Tuya Smart Life platform, which allows users to control a wide range of smart home devices, including lights, switches, and sensors, all from within Home Assistant. This integration is particularly useful for those who have a range of different smart home devices from different manufacturers.
The new integration with the Daikin Airbase platform is also likely to be popular, as it allows users to control their Daikin air conditioning units directly from within Home Assistant. This integration makes it easy to adjust the temperature and other settings of your air conditioning system, without having to switch between different apps or devices.
Other new integrations include the integration with the new OpenEVSE platform, which allows users to control and monitor their electric vehicle charging stations, and the integration with the new Netatmo Smart Thermostat, which allows users to control their home heating and cooling systems from within Home Assistant.
Overall, these new integrations add even more functionality and flexibility to the Home Assistant platform, making it an even more powerful tool for automating and controlling your home. Whether you’re looking to save energy, control your smart home devices, or monitor your home’s temperature and air quality, there’s sure to be an integration that’s right for you.
Breaking Changes
The August update of Home Assistant has arrived with a few breaking changes. The breaking changes list is short, which is a good thing. However, it is still important to check for anything that is relevant to you before updating.
One breaking change to note is that the mqtt integration now requires a broker configuration. Previously, the mqtt integration would use the default configuration if no configuration was provided. This is no longer the case, and the mqtt integration will not work without a broker configuration.
Another breaking change is that the zha integration has been removed from Home Assistant Core. The zha integration is now a separate integration that needs to be installed manually. This change was made to reduce the size of Home Assistant Core and make it easier to maintain.
Lastly, the tado integration has been updated to use the new Tado API. If you are using the tado integration, you will need to re-authenticate with the new API. This change was made to improve the reliability and performance of the tado integration.
Overall, the breaking changes list for the August update of Home Assistant is short and manageable. It is important to check for anything that is relevant to you before updating to ensure a smooth transition.
Conclusion
The August update of Home Assistant has brought several new improvements and features to the platform, making it more powerful and user-friendly than ever before. The addition of a new entity specifically for capturing events makes it much easier to work with events directly in the UI, saving users time and effort. The improved language translations make the user experience much nicer, especially for non-native English speakers.
The support for wild cards is a powerful addition that opens up a whole new way to use voice commands with Home Assistant. Users can now add items to their shopping list using their voice, making it a convenient way to remember items. The generation of AI images through OpenAI’s Dali service is a fun addition, although its practical use may be limited.
The improvements to the blueprint creator and the first install experience are welcome additions that make it easier for users to customize their Home Assistant setup. The performance improvements and new Integrations make Home Assistant even more versatile and powerful.
Overall, the August update of Home Assistant brings many new features and improvements that make it a more user-friendly and powerful platform. The addition of new entities, support for wild cards, and improved language translations are just some of the highlights of this update. Home Assistant continues to be a leader in the home automation space, and this update only reinforces its position as such.
