November is the month of “What?!” What do you discover troublesome, complicated, or annoying about Dwelling Assistant? Forum WTH Category. Everyone seems to be welcome. This yr, we need to hear from new customers, non-technical customers, and individuals who dwell in a home the place another person set all of it up. Would you prefer to run Dwelling Assistant your self? Ask the individuals you reside with how they really feel!
Let’s begin with a confession.
I work as a house assistant all day lengthy to make a residing. Nonetheless, in my own residence, there are moments when the individuals I dwell with take a look at me and say, “What?!”
My most up-to-date one? Profile photograph.
For a very long time, you could not really change your profile image in Dwelling Assistant. Solely directors might try this hidden within the settings. So if anybody in the home needed a special photograph, they needed to ask me each time. That is somewhat bizarre for one thing that’s actually your personal face, proper?
Beginning with Dwelling Assistant 2026.10, all customers, admin or not, can change their photograph immediately from their profile. It is a small change, is not it? My 13 yr outdated daughter Lily now modifications them virtually each week. I formally misplaced my job as a family profile image administrator. Greatest relegation ever 😄
It is a very small factor, nevertheless it made an enormous distinction in how a lot she felt at residence with Dwelling Assistant. And that is one thing we are likely to overlook in our every day work.
So what do you assume? It is that point once more. All through the month of November, we will likely be holding a “What that heck?!” month. 🎉
Wait, what is that this once more?
We always value feedback from our customers, but we don’t often overtly request the most demanding types. That will change this November. Open the floodgates for a month. No jargon or fancy formatting required. I have one quick question. What is it about Home Assistant that makes you wonder, “What the hell?!”
Settings you’ll never find. That moment when your family did something and no one in your family knew why. What you keep missing and can’t believe isn’t here yet. All these small (and sometimes not-so-small) frustrations that you have learned to endure silently.
we want to hear their voices. All of them.
We only do this once every two years, and that’s by design. Two years is long enough for a lot to change, both in Home Assistant itself and in the smart home world around it. Technology is evolving, and so are our expectations of what a smart home should do. What bothered you last time may be long gone and something new may be driving you crazy today.
why do this
This year, open home foundation focuses on making residence assistants extra approachable. In different phrases, Dwelling Assistant would not simply work for the one who units it up. That ought to work for everybody residing in that home.
Issues are going effectively thus far. However let’s be actual. The individuals creating Dwelling Assistant are fairly unhealthy at determining what’s complicated about Dwelling Assistant. we all know the place all the things is. We all know a workaround. We stopped messing round years in the past.
That makes us horrible topics. You, however, are excellent. And so is everybody in your own home.
So this month is your month. (Gently) Complain, argue, or dream out loud and inform us what you assume Dwelling Assistant might do higher for you.
We wish to hear your opinions once more this yr.
WTH This month’s previous editions were great. But most of the stories we heard came from a very specific group: operatives. These are people who write YAML as a hobby, run a lot of apps, and know what an entity ID is.
I’m one of you too. we are nice people. Thank you for your continued support of WTH 😄
But this year, I want to explicitly invite everyone else.
- I just started Home Assistant. Everything is still fresh and that “huh?” feeling you got during the setup is priceless to us. Let’s write before we get used to it!
- You don’t consider yourself a “technical person.” I use Home Assistant and don’t want to mess with it. You want things to go well. Please tell me where you don’t feel that way.
- You live in a home where someone else is running Home Assistant. Your partner, parent, roommate, or child set everything up and you now live with it every day. Have you ever felt a little locked out of your own home? This group is the one we hear about the least, but it’s probably the one we can learn the most from. Home Assistant manages an entire household, but most people in that household never open the settings page.
Homework for those running Home Assistant at home
If you manage Home Assistant in your home, we have a request for you.
Ask the people you live with how they feel about it.
It’s not “How is it going?” Because they politely say yes. Let’s actually ask them. Fair warning: you might not like all the answers. That certainly wasn’t the case. But there’s a lot we can learn from that conversation. Some questions to get you going:
- What’s the most frustrating thing about using Home Assistant?
- Can you find what you need in an app or dashboard? Where do you get lost?
- When your home assistant does something unexpected, do you understand why? So what do you do about it? (Is the answer “Please call me”? Yes, that’s what I thought.)
- Is there something you’d like to do or change yourself in Home Assistant, but you don’t know how (or don’t have the courage to change it)?
- If you could change one thing about Home Assistant, what would it be?
Then bring what you hear to the forums. Even better, help them post in their own words. Their words are exactly what we need.
structure
All WTH is “What?!” Month Community Forum Category. Listed here are some easy tips to make it helpful (and enjoyable) for everybody.
- Please search first after which vote. Somebody might have overwhelmed you. Vote on their subjects. It reveals how frequent the issue is. Then add your personal story in your reply. Provides context to each story.
- One WTH per subject. This lets you focus on, vote and observe each.
- Describe the second, not the answer. Please inform us what occurred, what you anticipated, and why you have been . No must know easy methods to repair it, no jargon required. “I need to flip off the lights in my kitchen, however I could not discover the place to seek out them within the app” is precisely this drawback.
- Please be type. We’re all right here as a result of we care about Dwelling Assistant, our properties, and the individuals in them. This consists of the individuals engaged on Dwelling Assistant, lots of whom are volunteers and do that of their spare time.
This class is open for total month of november.
What occurs subsequent?
Read all WTH. Yes, really.
In previous editions, the poster found and fixed WTH during the month’s run. I really hope that happens again. If you’re a contributor and see something you can work on, give it a try.
Beyond simple fixes, everything you share helps us understand where Home Assistant needs to go next. This shapes the way Home Assistant is made available to everyone, not just those with administrator accounts.
So what the hell?
Whether you’ve been running Home Assistant since the early days, installed it last week, or simply live with someone who can’t stop talking about Home Assistant, this month is for you.
Tell us what’s difficult about Home Assistant, why it makes you sigh, or what it’s like to use Home Assistant.
Visit our forums and share WTH.
I’m wanting ahead to studying all of them (effectively…not less than I’ll do my greatest 😅).
../Frenck
FAQ
Do I need an account to post?
Yes, free account required community forum. It solely takes a minute to enroll.
I’ve multiple! Ought to I mix all of them into one subject?
No, please create separate subjects for every. There isn’t a restrict to the variety of WTH subjects you possibly can create. Smaller subjects are a lot simpler to debate, vote on, and convey up.
I am not working Dwelling Assistant myself; another person in my home is. Can I nonetheless put up?
Sure, please! You might be precisely the particular person we need to hear from this yr. You need not understand how all the things works behind the scenes. Inform me what it is prefer to dwell with that.
I’m posting on behalf of somebody in my family. Is that okay?
completely. Inform them it got here from them and use their phrases as a lot as doable. How they describe it tells us so much.
English will not be my native language. Can I nonetheless take part?
in fact! The discussion board will likely be in English, however don’t be concerned about that. Be at liberty to make use of AI or translation instruments to translate WTH. If that’s the case, please point out so in your put up and add your authentic textual content within the hidden particulars block beneath:
[details="Original text"]
Your textual content in your personal language.
[/details]
That method nothing will get misplaced in translation and folks can all the time see what you initially needed to say. This is similar method we’re utilizing AI policy.
Does it must be about Dwelling Assistant itself? What in regards to the cellular companion app, documentation, and web site?
It is all necessary. If it is a part of the house assistant expertise, it is legitimate WTH.
My WTH from the final version continues to be unresolved. Can I put up it once more?
sure! This can be a new version and plenty of issues have modified since then. Create a brand new WTH and be at liberty to hyperlink to the outdated WTH.
Will all the things reported be fastened?
No, there isn’t any assure. Our aim is to make it straightforward so that you can report any bugs you see for a month. What you share will assist us perceive the difficult elements of Dwelling Assistant and assist form what we work on subsequent.
My WTH is among the prime voted, so it may be fastened, proper?
This isn’t a reputation contest. Voting helps you see how many individuals have encountered the identical concern, nevertheless it would not assure that one thing will likely be featured.
I really want a brand new integration or app so I can use the system. Is that this the suitable place?
No, this occasion will not be for requesting new integrations or apps. Please open Feature request on GitHub for that.
I discovered some bugs and received used to GitHub. The place ought to I report?
When you’re comfy utilizing GitHub, please report the problem there as a substitute. This places you immediately in contact with the one who can repair the problem, and permits us to trace your progress.
I am a contributor and wish to repair WTH. How can I let individuals know?
fantastic! Please reply with a WTH subject and hyperlink to the pull request. That method everybody following the subject is aware of what is going on on.
