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Smart home news you can read in five minutes.
A weekly, hand-picked smart home newsletter for Apple Home, Google Home, and Alexa households—and for Home Assistant, Matter, and Thread tinkerers. Browse the archive or join the newsletter for future editions.
Latest articles
See allDash Is a Build-Your-Own Nest Hub on Gemini Live. Here's the Cost and Where Your Audio Goes
November 15, 2026, 5 min read
Dash is an open-source kitchen display for any tablet, with a 'Hey Dash' voice assistant on Google's Gemini Live API and HTTP endpoints Home Assistant can call. It's well designed, cheap to run, and very much not local. Here's how it works and where it fits next to a local Assist setup.
Your Old Google Home Mini Could Be a Local Voice Assistant. So Could That Echo Dot
November 14, 2026, 4 min read
A no-solder board that swaps the guts of a first-gen Google Home Mini for an open, local Home Assistant voice satellite raised 16 times its goal. Here's what it is, what it costs next to Voice PE, and the Echo projects doing the same thing.
The Open Home Foundation Wants a Legal Right to Choice in Your Smart Home
November 13, 2026, 4 min read
The Open Home Foundation's new position paper calls for local-first devices, no mandatory cloud accounts, a right to tinker without permission, and limits on removing features after you buy. It even calls for regulating 'Works with' programs, including its own.
ESPHome Lets AI Agents Edit and Flash Your Devices Now. Read the Fine Print First
November 13, 2026, 5 min read
ESPHome's Device Builder has an optional MCP endpoint that lets an AI agent read, edit, compile and install device configs. The guardrails are thoughtful. The no-password requirement from Home Assistant is the part to think hard about.
Philips Hue's AI Automations Are Here. You Can't Edit What They Build
November 12, 2026, 4 min read
Philips Hue's Custom AI Behaviors let Bridge Pro owners describe an automation in plain language and have the app build it. The first hands-on report found it lit the wrong lights, and there's no way to fix an AI-built automation by hand. What to know before you try it.
Nanoleaf's Thread Bulbs Get Apple Adaptive Lighting. Update Them From the App
November 12, 2026, 4 min read
Nanoleaf firmware 5.1.45 adds Matter 1.4 and native Apple Home Adaptive Lighting to its Matter-over-Thread bulbs, downlights, GU10s and lightstrips. Which lights qualify, why Matter 1.4 is the key, and why Home Assistant owners should use the Nanoleaf app for this one.