Home Assistant Companion Android App: New Features
Daniel ShokouhiHey there, it’s been so long since we last gave an update on our mobile apps we thought it would be time to give you more updates! This time around we will focus on whats new in the Android app. There have been a few releases so were going to cover everything new up until version 2.3.0 which was just released to the Google Play Store.
Manage Sensors
Starting from version 2.2.0 there is a new Manage Sensors screen that you can find under App Configuration. Users can now disable sensors they don’t want while continuing to receive updates from the sensors they do care about. This includes turning off the Geocoded sensor while keeping location tracking on. Speaking of which the 2 location toggles that used to be found in App Configuration are now located in this new screen. You can expect to see the live data that was recently sent over to your Home Assistant instance as well as the attributes and other sensor details.
Screenshot of the Manage Sensors.
Screenshot of Sensor Management.
New Sensors
We have had quite a bit of sensors get added since we last spoke so here’s whats new. Some of these sensors will update their state in your Home Assistant instance upon certain state changes. All of the sensors listed below will also update during the normal 15 minute update interval. To get more details about what to expect from each sensor check out the docs.
Available for Google Play Store version only:
- Activity
Available for all users:
- Audio
- Bluetooth
- Do Not Disturb
- Last Reboot
- Light
- Phone
- Pressure
- Proximity
- Next Alarm
- Sim 1 & 2
- Steps
- Storage
Sensor Enhancements
In addition to all the new sensors mentioned above we also had some improvements to our existing set of sensors. The battery state sensor now includes the battery health as a attribute and will also issue a second update call a few seconds after being plugged in so the state can update faster. The WiFi connection sensor was also updated so the state and certain attributes will update upon any network detected change. This state change also means that if you have multiple access points you will be able to see the device switching in real time.
NFC
The app now supports reading and writing to NFC tags so you can build automations off scanning the tag. Home Assistant Core 0.114+ is required for this feature. Keep in mind that certain phones will require you to have your phone unlocked before it can read the tag. More details about how it works in the docs.
Screenshot of NFC.
Template Widget
A new widget was added to give the user full control over creating a template widget with just about any data they want! Users will see the template rendering in real time as they build it. I personally recommend to start building your templates on a desktop as it can feel a bit cumbersome on a phone or tablet. This widget will update every 15 minutes or when it is tapped.
Screenshot of the Template Widget.
Theming
You can now set the theme of the app independently from the device theme. This is useful for users who like a dark theme on their device but use a light theme for Home Assistant. In addition to this change we also had a few more fixes around themes.
Screenshot of App Theme selection.
Additional Improvements
- Support for H265 videos was added
- Entity state widget was enhanced to allow for multiple attributes and a custom separator
- Widgets were enhanced overall to allow material icons
- Notifications can now use
:smiley:like you can in Discord - Lots of fixes across the board
Special thanks to chriss158