Purchasing a sufficient amount of technology invariably leads one into the enticing world of smart homes. Amazon, for instance, seems to offer Echo Dots generously, while Google subtly includes a Nest Mini in the box with nearly any product from its store. It’s a challenge to acquire a new kitchen appliance that doesn’t plead for an internet connection. However, all of these options come with locked-down platforms that heavily rely on the cloud, obliging users to conform to corporate dictates.
Over the past decade, Home Assistant has served as the preferred software for privacy-conscious enthusiasts who desire the advantages offered by Apple, Google, and Amazon products but with far greater flexibility and reduced security concerns. Now, as Home Assistant celebrates its 10th anniversary, its creators are introducing a new product, the Home Assistant Green, with the goal of making it accessible to a broader audience beyond just tech enthusiasts.
Paulus Schoutsen, the founder of Home Assistant and CEO of Nabu Casa, shared his vision for the future in an interview, saying, “Our long-term aspiration is for privacy-focused smart homes to be accessible not only to affluent individuals or tech enthusiasts.”
Like many others, my initial encounter with Home Assistant stemmed from the frustration of having a multitude of devices that either refused to cooperate with each other or exhibited very limited compatibility. These included Hue lights, smart speakers, a NAS, an air conditioner, and an assortment of miscellaneous switches, motion sensors, and other odds and ends I’d acquired from AliExpress. While larger companies have been incorporating Thread technology to encourage smoother device interactions, even this has resulted in interoperability challenges. It seems that a general discontent with the status quo and a longing for precise control often lead people to discover Home Assistant.
However, numerous hurdles have stood in the way. While setting up Home Assistant may not pose a significant challenge for those accustomed to tinkering with Raspberry Pis and similar hardware, it remains a somewhat daunting experience for those less technically inclined. At this juncture, it continues to be a software primarily geared towards enthusiasts, and its configuration process remains intentionally meticulous. Nevertheless, there exists a substantial segment of individuals eager to dive into home automation without the hassle of hardware tinkering. The Home Assistant Green serves as a convenient solution and represents an effort to simplify the onboarding process for everyone.
Priced at $99 and intended as a permanent addition to the Home Assistant lineup alongside the Home Assistant Yellow, what sets the Home Assistant Green apart is not its powerful, high-end hardware—although the RK3566 quad-core CPU is more than capable of running the software smoothly. What truly distinguishes this device is its 32GB eMMC storage, which comes preloaded with the Home Assistant platform. It serves as a more cost-effective and user-friendly entry point for individuals who wish to explore home automation without the need to flash a memory card from another PC. The unit also boasts 4GB of LDDR4x RAM, several USB 2.0 ports, an HDMI output, and a microSD slot for expansion. Importantly, the Home Assistant Green is purpose-built exclusively for running the Home Assistant Operating System and is not intended to function as a versatile computer like a Raspberry Pi. It’s designed for those who are familiar with Home Assistant but seek a simpler way to set it up without the associated complexities.
Getting started with the Home Assistant Green is a breeze. Simply plug it in using the provided power adapter, connect it to your router via Ethernet (as the Green eschews Wi-Fi, given the emphasis on a wired backbone for your smart home, as explained by Schoutsen), and complete the setup process using your smartphone or another computer. The system will automatically detect compatible devices on your network. If you lack a Hue hub or an existing method to connect to Zigbee devices (and Thread, experimentally), you can always add a Skyconnect dongle later. While Home Assistant already supports numerous devices, simplicity is the key focus for the Home Assistant Green. I had the privilege of testing an early sample of the device, which came encased in an attractive frosted plastic housing with a metal base, and it included straightforward instructions. This was a much more aesthetically pleasing setup compared to my current arrangement, which consists of a bare Raspberry Pi 4 Model B haphazardly resting on my bookshelf with cables protruding in all directions.
Upon plugging everything in and accessing the Green’s address through your computer’s browser (http://homeassistant.local:8123/) or the Home Assistant mobile app, you’ll encounter a quick installation screen, prompting you to initiate a new smart home or restore an existing one. Since I already had a Home Assistant setup, I took the precaution of creating a full backup of my instance and downloaded it to my computer before disconnecting it from my router. Subsequently, I uploaded the backup and patiently waited for about 20 minutes as it configured everything. It doesn’t currently provide a notification when the process is complete, so you need to refresh your browser window. However, to my delight, all my settings, painstaking UI customizations, and integrations were precisely where I had left them, and my Skyconnect functionality was fully operational. Everything simply worked as expected.
If simplicity is the primary objective, the Home Assistant team has undoubtedly achieved it. Schoutsen conveyed, “Currently, we’re targeting what we call the ‘outgrower’ audience. These are individuals who initially use Amazon, Apple, etc., but encounter limitations and seek more advanced solutions. They search the web and discover Home Assistant. By that point, users already recognize their desire for a smart home and are actively seeking solutions to their challenges, which Home Assistant typically addresses. We believe that by requiring a Raspberry Pi to start or offering the relatively expensive Yellow (without knowing if it will solve your problems for $200), we were missing out on a substantial portion of these ‘outgrowers.’ With the Green, we aim to provide a means for anyone to embark on their Home Assistant journey.”
Home Assistant, which marks its 10th anniversary today, has undergone significant growth over the past decade. Much like myself, Schoutsen became involved in this endeavor after encountering limitations with an expensive set of Philips Hue bulbs.
“I didn’t initiate Home Assistant with the intention of creating a smart home platform,” he elucidated. “I purchased Hue bulbs when they were released. At that time, I was a visiting scholar at UCSD, completing my MSC thesis and working extensively with Python. So, I wrote some code to interact with Hue.”
Subsequently, the project and its team have expanded, now comprising 28 individuals. Home Assistant’s development is financially supported by subscriptions to the company’s cloud service, Home Assistant Cloud, and the sale of hardware products like the Yellow, the limited edition Blue, the SkyConnect dongle, and now the Green hub. This financial independence allows the company to progress without external investors exerting pressure. Beyond the core team, numerous contributors create blueprints and contribute to the code in their spare time. According to Schoutsen, Home Assistant ranks as the second most active open-source project on GitHub.
When I inquired about the possibility of expanding the project beyond residential use, Schoutsen expressed disinterest, stating, “Whenever you broaden the focus, you have to incorporate features that cater well to one use case and not so well to the other.” He further elaborated, “I wouldn’t want to target hotels or offices. When engaging with companies, people often assumed we would venture into those domains, as that’s where the financial potential lies, but it’s not the kind of fun we seek. Additionally, we lack investors pushing us away from our primary focus on home automation.” Schoutsen also noted that expanding into office spaces would necessitate rigorous access control, which would slow down the process of adding new features. This pragmatic approach to the product’s scope is somewhat unusual coming from founders.
When I asked where they envision Home Assistant in relation to Google or Apple’s offerings, Schoutsen stated, “I don’t foresee us directly competing with Google, Amazon, or Apple in the near future, especially for users who need to be educated about smart homes. The fact is, anyone with a smartphone has access to Google Home and Apple Home. However, we don’t claim that those users truly have a smart home. Having multiple connected devices doesn’t automatically make a home ‘smart.’ A home truly qualifies as ‘smart’ when individuals prioritize unified control and seamless device integration.” Having personally used both HomeKit and Home Assistant, I tend to concur. Home Assistant’s primary market will always be individuals seeking a purposeful smart home that precisely meets their requirements, rather than an excessively curated closed ecosystem. While there is still much work to be done to make it more user-friendly for beginners (Schoutsen acknowledges that finding user-created blueprints could be made more accessible), the core of its success remains unchanged: a community of thousands of users acquiring devices for their homes, encountering functionality issues, devising workarounds, and sharing their progress.
Schoutsen emphasized, “Sustaining the momentum requires considerable effort.”
While I, by nature, am inclined to tinker with technology, I also recognize that most people do not share that inclination. While Raspberry Pis can spark curiosity, many individuals seek solutions that take them most of the way toward their goals. A significant portion of IoT hardware is marketed for its alluring ease of use at the expense of being closed, insecure, and intrusive. As I examined the semi-transparent plastic casing of the Home Assistant Green, I found myself hoping that Schoutsen’s vision proves correct. I hope that more people embrace Home Assistant, open-source software, and ultimately the concept of complete control over a genuinely “smart” home.
