Home Assistant & Matter
Product tests, releases and practical ideas for Home Assistant, Matter and your connected home.
About this list
This reading list brings together items from the sources selected for Home Assistant & Matter. Open each item at its original source for the complete article, episode or video. This is a selection of current coverage, not a complete archive.
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Your entire room is controlled by your blanket ✨
Your everyday household items can do more than you think. 🍂 With Aqara, you can create custom automations that respond to everyday actions, without needing to open an app or press a button. Here's how this Cozy Mode automation works: Motion Detection: The Aqara P100 Multi-State Sensor detects movement when a blanket is taken from the basket. Smart Lighting: The motion triggers a preset scene, automatically adjusting your lights to a warm, cozy glow. Automated Curtains: Connected curtain controllers close the curtains for a little extra privacy. Temperature Control: Your compatible smart thermostat adjusts to your preferred temperature. All of these actions can be linked through a single automation in the Aqara Home app, allowing multiple smart home devices to work together from one simple trigger. What's an everyday object you'd turn into a smart home controller? 👇 #aqara #smarthome #homeautomation #cozymode #fallvibes
Halloween hits different when your lights know exactly when to set the mood. 👻
Halloween hits different when your lights know exactly when to set the mood. 👻 With Philips Hue Bridge Pro and MotionAware, every movement brings the scene to life, from eerie orange glows to shifting shadows. One step in, and your home transforms. One more, and the atmosphere changes again. The perfect setup for a seriously spooky night. #PhilipsHue #HalloweenVibes #SmartLighting #SpookySeason #HomeAutomation
Everything New In Home Assistant 2026.10!
Home Assistant 2026.10 is here, the October release of 2026, and this month adds a new automation condition, improved mapping, more tile card features and more dashboard visibility! If you'd like to support me and future projects: Everything Presence and other Smart Home devices: https://shop.everythingsmart.io Home Assistant Release Notes: https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2026/10/07/release-202610/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingsmarthome Buy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/EverySmartHome Written Article: https://everythingsmarthome.co.uk EVERYWHERE YOU CAN FIND ME: Shop: https://shop.everythingsmart.io Everything Smart Home Community Discord: https://discord.everythingsmarthome.co.uk Twitter: https://twitter.com/EverySmartHome (@EverySmartHome) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/EverythingSmartHome/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/everythingsmarthomeofficial/ #homeassistant #smarthome ________________________ 0:00 - Intro 0:14 - Automation trigger condition 1:52 - Maps 4:09 - Dashboard Visibility 5:41 - Device entity names 6:41 - Tile card features 7:41 - Profile page 8:15 - MCP 9:58 - Little things, new integrations, breaking changes
Home Assistant 2026.10: The Best New Features and Changes
Naravno — evo cijelog descriptiona s ispravnim markerima. Home Assistant 2026.10 is packed with smaller improvements that make everyday use noticeably better. In this release we look at the rebuilt Map experience, easier automation trigger handling, much more powerful dashboard visibility conditions, a simpler MCP and AI setup, improved Timer controls and presets, better automation traces, Calendar improvements, new infrared integrations, and several smaller quality-of-life changes. I also cover one important announcement that is not really part of the normal release notes: Home Assistant Cloud is becoming Home Assistant Link. In this video I am running the beta and showing the features directly inside Home Assistant, including real examples for automations, dashboard visibility, MCP control, timers, traces, calendar cards and the new map interface. Chapters 00:00 - Home Assistant 2026.10 01:15 - The Map Got a Lot More Useful 03:11 - Automations Stop Making You Remember Things 04:48 - Dashboard Cards Can Finally Think a Little More 06:14 - AI and MCP Are Much Easier to Find 07:33 - Timers Finally Feel Like Dashboard Controls 08:32 - Small Things That Make Home Assistant Nicer 10:23 - More Integrations, More Infrared, More Things to Break 12:11 - Home Assistant Cloud Is Becoming Link 14:01 - Should You Update? Useful links Home Assistant 2026.10 release notes: https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2026/10/07/release-202610/ Home Assistant Link announcement: https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2026/10/02/big-tech-ruined-the-cloud-so-were-renaming-ours/ 💻 GitHub: https://github.com/BeardedTinker 🛒 Bearded Tinker Shop: https://shop.beardedtinker.com ❤️ Become a Channel Member: https://www.youtube.com/@BeardedTinker/join If you find my videos useful, you can also support the channel using the Super Thanks button below the video. Every bit helps support future testing, projects and videos. Which 2026.10 feature are you actually going to use? And if I missed something
2026.10: You are here 📍
Home Assistant 2026.10! 🎉 Last week, Nabu Casa dropped: Big Tech ruined the cloud, so we’re renaming ours. Home Assistant Cloud is on its way to becoming Home Assistant Link. Same service, new name. I love that title, by the way. If you haven’t read the story behind it yet, go have a look, and tell us what you think. The change is planned for the December release, so there is still time. 🏎️ Now, I’ll let you in on a secret: I’m an automation person.
Presence sensing without a camera 🏠 FP400
Big thanks to @bramdmedia for featuring the Aqara Spatial Multi-Sensor FP400! 🙌 Two things that make it stand out: it works across major smart home ecosystems through Matter over Thread, so you're never locked into one platform. And it senses presence with radar instead of a camera, so privacy stays front and center. 🏠 Want to see what it can do in your home? Grab yours, link in bio! 🛒 #Aqara #FP400 #SmartHome #AppleHome #HomeAutomation
I Made My Local AI Pick Its Own Model
I wanted my local AI to choose the right model automatically instead of making me pick between speed and capability for every request. I test NVIDIA Switchyard for local AI model routing with Nemotron 3.5 Lightning on an RTX 3090 and DeepSeek V4 Flash across two GX10s. I cover Stage routing, vLLM, context windows, and some of the problems I ran into while testing it with real coding agents. In my best autonomous coding run, almost 88% of the routing decisions went to Nemotron while DeepSeek was still available when Switchyard decided it was needed. This is pretty close to what I wanted. Most of the work stays on the fast local model, the more capable model gets pulled in when it makes sense, and I don't have to choose between them before I start. Video Notes: https://technotim.com/posts/switchyard-local-ai-routing/ Merch Shop 🛍️: https://l.technotim.com/shop Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/technotim Sponsor me on GitHub: https://github.com/sponsors/timothystewart6 Subscribe on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/technotim Become a YouTube member: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOk-gHyjcWZNj3Br4oxwh0A/join Gear Recommendations: https://l.technotim.com/gear Get Help in Our Discord Community: https://l.technotim.com/discord 2nd channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TechnoTimTinkers (Affiliate links may be included in this description. I may receive a small commission at no cost to you.) 00:00 Automatic AI Model Routing 01:09 Nemotron Lightning vs DeepSeek 01:40 Fixing Nemotron's Performance 02:35 Is Nemotron Actually Good? 02:58 How NVIDIA Switchyard Works 04:55 Putting Stage Routing to the Test 05:28 The 32K Context Problem 06:46 Fixing Routing with 128K Context 07:44 Testing on Real-World Code 08:40 Building the Autonomous Agent Test 09:46 Run 4: Getting Close 10:39 Run 5: 88% Routed to Nemotron 11:50 Run 6: When the Agent Got Stuck 12:11 Is NVIDIA Switchyard Worth It? 13:40 What's Next for My Local AI Thank you for watching!
The future of the smart home, straight from IFA 2026 🏠
What’s next for Aqara? 👀 At IFA 2026, Aqara Senior Vice President Lillian Kong shared a look at the future of the smart home, the latest innovations we showcased at IFA, and what’s ahead as connected living continues to evolve. From Matter to Thread and beyond, we’re continuing to build toward a smarter, more seamless connected home. 🏠✨ @threadgroup2752 #Aqara #SmartHome #IFA2026 #Matter #Thread #IoT
How many things can one tiny sensor make smart? 🏠 #smartsensor
We thought it was time to see how many everyday things one tiny sensor can make smarter 🏠 Turns out the answer is a lot: a desk chair, a supplement bottle, a fridge, a plant, and a litter box, all with the Aqara Multi-State Sensor P100. Tap the link in bio to make your home a little smarter 👀 #aqara #smarthome #homeautomation #P100
POV: You thought this was just a thermostat. 🌡️
The Aqara W200 doubles as a smart home hub, controlling curtains, lights, locks, and more, all from the same place you check the temperature. Pair it with a camera or doorbell, and it can even pull up the live feed the moment someone rings. Turns out your thermostat had bigger plans all along. 👀 #Aqara #SmartHome #W200 #HomeAutomation #Matter
Storage is Sexy: Episode 2
Are acts of organisation a love language? Can pressed and folded shirts get someone hot under the collar? Our new dating show is here to find out. In this episode, we meet Kajal: a doctor with strong opinions about wardrobe organisation. Three singles will bare their PAX wardrobes to see who meets her exacting standards. This is Storage is Sexy. Wardrobes featured in this episode: PAX/FYRUDDEN - £899 PAX/TONSTAD - £1,175 PAX - £590 Find out more: https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/cat/pax-system-19086/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social_organic&utm_campaign=fy27_attract_pax&utm_content=video&utm_term=awareness
Storage is Sexy: Episode 1
Is being organised the hottest thing a person can be? Could you date a person based on their wardrobe alone? Our new dating show is here to find out. In this episode, we meet Dani: a creative motorcycle designer with an eye for detail. Three singles will bare their PAX wardrobes, to see whose organisation gets her heart racing. This is Storage is Sexy. Wardrobes featured in this episode: PAX/GULLABERG - £890 PAX/VIKANES - £426 PAX/LUNDBRÄSMA - £1,808 Find out more: https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/cat/pax-system-19086/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social_organic&utm_campaign=fy27_attract_pax&utm_content=video&utm_term=awareness
Meet Vivint Comfort IQ 🌦️
Meet Vivint Comfort IQ—a new AI-powered energy management feature built into the Vivint experience. Comfort IQ works with your Vivint Smart Thermostat to learn your routines and automatically adjust your home’s temperature based on your lifestyle, helping you stay comfortable while using energy more efficiently. With an average 12% reduction in HVAC runtime and the potential for up to $300 in annual utility bill savings, your home can do more of the thinking for you. 🌦️ Smarter energy savings starts with Vivint’s Comfort IQ. 👇
I Used Lymow for 4 Months. Here’s What Actually Happened
133 days, more than 50,000 m² mowed, over 12,220 minutes of work and more than 90 mowing sessions later — it is time to revisit Lymow. Since my original video, the mowing area has grown from roughly 1,200 m² to 2,611 m² across three very different zones. And this is definitely not a flat, perfectly prepared lawn. In this video I share what actually happened after four months of real use: the good parts, the failures, the lessons learned, the occasional rescue mission, the unofficial Home Assistant integration, and one thing I really want Lymow to improve — idle power consumption. Spoiler: despite everything I managed to throw at it, Lymow is staying. 🤖 Lymow Official Website: https://dada.link/6XJf2c 🛒 Lymow Amazon Store: http://bit.ly/4aHPXd2 Chapters 00:00 - 50,000 Square Meters Later 01:55 - I Keep Making Its Job Harder 03:35 - One Feature I Now Really Appreciate 04:24 - It Did Fail, Just Not Very Often 06:39 - The Part I Really Want Improved 08:18 - And Then There Is the Reason I Keep It 09:48 - The Project Is Getting Bigger 11:19 - Four Months Later 💻 GitHub: https://github.com/BeardedTinker 🎬 Video Assets, Configs & Project Files: https://github.com/BeardedTinker/video-assets 🛒 Bearded Tinker Shop: https://shop.beardedtinker.com ❤️ Become a Channel Member: https://www.youtube.com/@BeardedTinker/join If you find my videos useful, you can also support the channel using Super Thanks below the video. It helps support future testing, projects and videos. 🌐 Follow Bearded Tinker: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BeardedTinker X / Twitter: https://twitter.com/BeardedTinker Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BeardedTinker Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beardedtinker (*) Some links above may be affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. It helps support the channel and future content. Thank you! #Lymow #RobotMower #SmartHome #HomeAssistant #SmartProperty
This is all you need for zone-based automation #FP400
Here’s all you actually need to create this smart home automation. 👇 If you’re just getting started, you only need a few things to create an automation that turns your lights on when you enter a space, and off when you leave, so you’re not wasting energy lighting an empty room. For this setup, we’re using: 🏠 Aqara Hub M3 👀 Aqara Presence Multi-Sensor FP400 💡 An Aqara light, OR an Aqara Smart Plug to make a regular lamp smart Set your automation once, then let your home handle the rest. No switches required. #Aqara #SmartHome #HomeAutomation #SmartHomeAutomation #EnergySaving
Roman Telescope Saves Fuel, Doubles Mission
Contemplate the events that might end a space mission, and you might picture something dramatic: detonation on the pad, a dead guidance system, or micrometeoroids shattering delicate solar panels.
Three devices, three everyday upgrades 🏠
Three devices, three everyday upgrades. 🏠 There's nothing better than small upgrades that make your home feel effortless. A Wireless Mini Switch to turn the lights on and off with one press. A Cube T1 that controls the TV with a simple placement or twist. A Motion Sensor that lights up the room the second you walk in. Hope this sparks some new ideas for you to try 😊 Shop the lineup at the link in bio 🛒 #Aqara #SmartHome #HomeAutomation #smartliving #TechTips
The number one mistake designing smart homes
This is the number one mistake we see in all Smart Home and Theater Designs. We want to bend the tech to our use, not our use to the tech. Before you worry about brands, decide exactly how you want to use the room, and be really specific. Once you know that, it’s easy to match the best tech to your room. For design services: https://tymhomes.com/design-service/
Best Ultra Short Throw Projectors 2026 - Don't Miss This One
I tested 9 of the newest and most popular ultra short throw (UST) projectors on the market in 2026 to figure out which one is the best for bright rooms, dark rooms, and to find the best overall. Best Overall - XGIMI AURA 3 Max (KS Deposit): https://tidd.ly/4xHZN7l Also worth considering: Dark Room - AWOL Aetherion Pro: https://link.amazon/B0ggvxd2v Bright Room - Epson LifeStudio Grand Plus: https://link.amazon/B09EY28af The rest (By overall rank): Hisense PX4 Pro: https://link.amazon/B02jhM5gf AWOL Aetherion Max: https://link.amazon/B0jeUrQCO Hisense PX3 Pro: https://link.amazon/B0hetrdKT Nexigo Aurora Pro MKII: https://link.amazon/B0gzsZ2fh LG Cinebeam AI (HU925V): https://www.lg.com/us/projectors/cinebeam-story XGIMI Mira: https://link.amazon/B0gz5MNmY **As an Amazon Affiliate I earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no cost to you** Visit my website: https://www.TheSmartHomeHookUp.com Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thehookup1 Join me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/473812443269387 Support my channel directly: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thehookup 00:00 Introduction 00:36 XGIMI Mira Testing 02:08 XGIMI AURA 3 Max Testing 04:52 Side by Side Round 1 06:17 Hisense PX3-Pro Testing 07:37 Side by Side Round 2 09:00 Nexigo Aurora Pro MKII Testing 10:35 Side by Side Round 3 11:42 AWOL Aetherion Pro Testing 13:07 Side by Side Round 4 14:12 Epson Lifestudio Grand Plus Testing 15:41 Side by Side Round 5 18:00 Hisense PX4-Pro Testing 19:29 Side by Side Round 6 21:18 AWOL Aetherion Max Testing 22:55 Side by Side Round 7 25:01 LG Cinebeam AI Testing 26:48 Side by Side Round 8 28:13 Final Rankings - Dark and Bright Viewing 28:46 Input Lag Testing 30:33 24p Testing 31:15 DLP Rainbow Effect 32:49 3D Performance 34:06 Focus and Sharpness 34:46 Throw Distance 35:36 Fan Noise and Speakers 37:00 Conclusions and Recommendations
My NEW Favorite! Roborock Qrevo Edge 3 Pro
Roborock's Qrevo Edge 3 Pro has flagship features at an affordable price. But how does it hold up? Some of its flagship features are the AdaptiLift Chassis 3.0, 36,000 Pa suction, smart AI obstacle avoidance, and a dock that washes the mops with hot water. Basically this robot vacuum does almost all of the work for you, so you can set it and forget it! Fall Prime Day Deal (Oct. 6 - Oct. 11): Get it for $999.99 ($500 off)! Get it on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4AIkZNB Other Roborock deals on Amazon: https://amzn.to/46Gm5eO Promo code: FPD26SMART for an additional 5% off the Qrevo Edge 3 Pro on Amazon only from 10/6-10/7 Get it at the official store: https://bit.ly/4hlQzHJ Other Roborock deals at the official store: https://bit.ly/46BJoqd My smart home favorites: https://www.amazon.com/shop/smarthomesolver My smart home shirts! USA: https://smarthomesolver.big3creative.com/ International: https://smart-home-solver-shop.fourthwall.com/ FOLLOW ME Subscribe to Smart Home Solver: https://bit.ly/3joO1dZ Subscribe to Reed's Smart Home: http://bit.ly/3EulO02 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smarthomesolver/ 0:00 Intro 0:28 ANOTHER Roborock?? 1:10 New Dock 2:40 Navigation 3:51 Avoiding obstacles 5:56 Top tier cleaning 9:14 Over the top 10:27 Who is it for? 11:22 Side hustle --------- MUSIC Space Trooper by DivKid Ending song is The End by EVA. https://open.spotify.com/artist/6UIs5b0zSXztIW5GHkCTkK #roborock #QrevoEdge3Pro #smarthome #fallprimeday @roborockglobal
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