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
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 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
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.
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
USA