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submitted 4 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

Does anyone know if the 2024.5 Companion App update for iOS removed the ability to control entities from the widget? I've read the release notes but there's no mention of any features being removed.

I could absolutely swear that I had a working widget with most of my lights on it, a solitary button for each light, that I could single tap to toggle said light.

Then, a few months or so back, I noticed the widget didn't seem to be working. The entity icons had change to black, round shadows, and tapping them did nothing.

I deleted the widget, thinking it got corrupted somehow and have never been able to get it back exactly as described above.

Now, it seems that only thing I can do with widgets is use Actions. Some Actions have been auto-created by the Companion App for each scene on my server, and I can obviously create my own Actions, to trigger automations.

But, I don't want to have to frig around with Actions (using input_booleans and automations) to do something as simple as turning a light on or off.

Am I dreaming? Did the iOS widgets never have this ability? Or am I missing something really obvious to configure entities onto a widget?

Thanks in advance for any useful advice.

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[-] [email protected] 0 points 4 weeks ago

All my light switches are entities and live on entity cards. This works fine in the app, both on Android and iOS.

[-] [email protected] 0 points 4 weeks ago

Yep, but I'm talking about widgets that you place on your phone's home screen - not in the app directly.

[-] [email protected] 0 points 4 weeks ago

Why in the world would you do that, when this app is so fully customizable?

[-] [email protected] 0 points 4 weeks ago

So you can't possibly conceive that a single finger tap on a home screen widget to control a light is far simpler, and takes less effort, than having to open the app each time, potentially scroll to the location of the entity you want to control, then tap?

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Look into the Shortcuts app. This is Apples answer to creating automations on your iPhone. While I’ve never tried this, I see that it can send actions to the HA app. Perhaps that will do what you want

So your options include

  • use your HA dashboard
  • create a link to an action or scene in HA
  • configure HomeKit bridge and use a HomeKit dashboard
  • configure HomeKit Bridge and use Siri
  • Use the Shortcuts app to automate the HA app
[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

I use Shortcuts with NFC tags to automate some stuff with HA, and could probably achieve something on an entity by entity basis.

My point is that we used to have the ability to put a widget on the screen with about 6 or 8 entities on it, for simple, single-click access. And now we don't. Seems silly to have taken it away from us.

[-] [email protected] 0 points 3 weeks ago

I wonder if HomeKit and HomeKit bridge would satisfy that itch.

I set it up so I can use Siri to open my garage door. Works great! You just need at least one HomeKit device like an Apple TV or a HomePod.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 week ago

What do you need the HomeKit device for?

I’m a light user of HomeKit so may not have run into the limitations yet. I use the HomeKit Bridge to expose a few light switches to HomeKit and then used AppleFamily to duplicate that to my kids. What little I use it for is fine without a HomeKit device

[-] [email protected] 0 points 3 weeks ago

It possibly would, but I don't have any Homekit devices, and I just feel hat this is a simple thing a home automation app should offer, it's almost conspicuous by it's removal/absence.

[-] [email protected] 0 points 1 week ago

HomeKit bridge also makes the devices available to Siri

this post was submitted on 19 Aug 2024
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