Mostly Automated Media
268 episodes listed below
Smart homes, explained through real setups.
Home Assistant Podcast is a calm, technical conversation about making homes respond better with Home Assistant. Phil, Rohan, and guests move from real setups into the choices behind them: protocols, dashboards, sensors, AI, heating, lighting, and reliability.
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Home Assistant Podcast sits in the practical middle of smart-home culture. It is technical, but not sealed off from normal household use. Phil and Rohan talk through Home Assistant releases, community contributions, project headlines, and integrations with the kind of patience that makes configuration details feel connected to real life. Guest episodes give the show most of its texture. Mike explains how heating and workplace-style dashboard thinking can map into a house. Brayden describes a reliable, low-cost setup that avoids YAML. Another Mike brings Home Assistant into a van, with a background that connects automation and mobile living. Caden discusses cat tracking, Frigate, and the path from Hue lights into deeper automation. Andrew talks about rebuilding a solo smart home when a roommate enters the picture. Those stories keep the show from becoming a changelog. The recurring question is not just what Home Assistant can do, but what kind of home behavior is worth automating. Sometimes the answer is local control. Sometimes it is a notification that arrives at the right moment. Sometimes it is a garage door that opens with only a brief delay, a heating setup that acts more intelligently, or a dashboard that favors function over visual polish. The show also follows broader project movement, including Open Home Foundation work, Works with Home Assistant partners, and release features like infrared support, room vacuuming, and AI experiments. Its tone is friendly and unhurried. The speakers make room for specifics without turning the conversation into a spec sheet. For technically curious listeners, that makes it a useful companion: detailed enough to inform a build, relaxed enough to feel like a conversation between people comparing what actually works.
Made for: Built for Home Assistant users, home automation hobbyists, and technically curious listeners who care about reliability, local control, and practical device choices. It especially suits people who like hearing how other homes are wired, configured, adjusted, and lived with.
What sets it apart: The show stands out by starting from working installations rather than abstract smart-home trends. Release news and protocol talk are anchored in lived examples: heating, vans, pets, roommates, dashboards, notifications, and devices that either earn their place or get replaced.
Join hosts Phil Hawthorne and Rohan Karamandi as they explore the newest Home Assistant releases and the latest Home Automation news. Featuring guests who use or contribute to Home Assistant, the podcast aims to inspire new ways to make your home smarter.
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
It makes home automation legible as a continuing practice of choosing, configuring and maintaining systems that must work in real households.
Phil Hawthorne and Rohan Karamandi approach the smart home as a system that has to survive ordinary life. Release discussions sit beside guest conversations about heating, dashboards, device protocols, presence detection and automations that remain useful as a household changes.
A smart-home rabbit hole where your best automation might already be gathering dust.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Practical Home Assistant talk about dashboards, notifications, and automation that gets out of the way.
The episode stays on the practical side of home automation, with Phil, Rohan, and Mike moving from workplace dashboarding and notifications into home use without losing the thread.
A practical look at a Home Assistant setup that balances affordability, reliability, and UI-first automation.
Brayden's smart-home discussion is a practical look at how a Home Assistant setup gets built and kept running. It spends most of its time on real tradeoffs: Zigbee, Matter, Thread, Bluetooth, and the cost gap that keeps wired gear out of reach for a lot of homes.
A clear look at Home Assistant making the first screen feel less intimidating.
Home Assistant uses this segment to treat a small interface change like a real shift in how the product feels. The new default Home dashboard is framed as a better first stop for fresh installs, not a wall of entities and setup clutter.
A smart home check-in on staying useful as life changes.
Aaron’s return to the Home Assistant Podcast works as a quiet look at what it means for a smart home to keep serving a household as life shifts around it.
A clear Home Assistant workaround for room presence that trades brittleness for a little maintenance.
The segment makes a practical case for using labels and a template binary sensor to track room presence in Home Assistant. Instead of tying automations to one device, it lets the room carry the signal, which is a cleaner fit when devices move around or when several sensors are…
Linux talk with a maintenance instinct.
Gamification beyond points, badges, and novelty.
Indian startup stories with operating detail.
Accessible design, priced and explained clearly.
Practical SharePoint guidance without the panic.
Phil and Rohan welcome Mike and guide the conversation toward practical home automation and dashboards.
Rohan and Phil talk with Brayden about the Home Assistant setup he has built at home.
This episode discusses the Home Assistant 2026.4 update, focusing on infrared features, and covers upcoming events like the State of the Open Home conference.
This episode features an interview with Mike from SmartyVan, discussing his background in technology and home automation, and how he integrates Home Assistant into his van life setup.
Caden discusses his cat-tracking smart home setup using Home Assistant and Frigate, sharing his IT background and journey into home automation.
Hosts Phil and Rohan discuss their personal use of AI in smart homes and Home Assistant, without a guest or release.
Hosts discuss the latest Home Assistant March release, community contributions, and project news.
Hosts interview a guest about their background in home automation and discuss Home Assistant features and community news.
Hosts Phil and Rohan interview Will about his journey into home automation and discuss Home Assistant updates.
Hosts Phil and Rohan interview Mike about his home automation journey using Home Assistant, with sponsorship and Patreon mentions.
Phil Hawthorne and Rohan Karimandi focus on Home Assistant's default Home dashboard.
Hosts interview Miranda from the Open Home Foundation about the Works with Home Assistant program and partnerships.
Phil and Rohan welcome Aaron back to the show.
Hosts Phil and Rohan interview Adam, a listener and developer at JetBrains, about his experience with Home Assistant and home automation.
Phil and Rohan open with New Year greetings and a look at a Home Assistant update.
An interview with Network Chuck about his use of Home Assistant for home automation.
Hosts Phil and Rohan interview Greg about his Home Assistant journey and discuss the latest in home automation.
Hosts interview Dave Slusher about his podcasting experience and discuss Home Assistant news and community.
Hosts Phil and Rohan interview Josh about Home Assistant, covering the platform's features, community, and home automation news.
Hosts discuss the latest Home Assistant release 2025.10, featuring automation editor updates and voice assistant improvements.
An interview with Thomas about his journey into Home Assistant and smart home automation.
Hosts discuss the latest Home Assistant releases and introduce the new Home Assistant Connect ZWA2 Z-Wave radio.
Phil and Rohan discuss the latest Home Assistant release and smart home industry news, including Belkin Wemo's discontinuation.
Hosts interview a popular YouTube creator about Home Assistant updates, home automation news, and community contributions.
Hosts interview Pete, a smart home YouTuber, about his journey with Home Assistant and home automation.
Hosts discuss the upcoming Open Home Summit 2025 and recent Home Assistant community events.
This episode features an interview with Agnes Lorenz, VP at Zeus, discussing the company's origins as a Z-Wave-focused brand and its evolution in the home automation industry.
Hosts interview a community member about his journey into home automation using Home Assistant.
This episode features an interview with Jimmy Hawkins, a digital creator known as Automated House, discussing his journey into smart home content creation on platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
Hosts interview the founder of Home Assistant about the State of the Open Home and new features.
This episode features Connor and Tez discussing their transition from theater automation to starting a Home Assistant installation business after COVID impacted their industry.
Bob discusses his long-term experience with Home Assistant and how he automates both an RV and a smart home, sharing his journey into smart home technology.
This episode interviews Travis (digiblurDIY), a YouTube creator with 63,000 subscribers, discussing his work with Home Assistant and smart home technology.