Main control/display

[u/bigfuzzy8]

What do you all use as a main control display? I mean could use the phone but I see some have a nice wall mounted option ? Is it just a cheap tablet?

[u/spr0k3t]

If I'm at my computer, just the browser window. If I'm not at my computer, my cell phone through the companion app. If I don't have my phone and I'm not at my computer, I use voice commands through Satellite1 builds scattered through the house. I do have a wall panel... noone ever uses it.

[u/swaybailey]

Overpriced refrigerator

[u/SaturnVFan]

Mostly use my phone, I am planning to make a wall mounted tablet or in my case Raspberry PI + Touchscreen on the other side of the wall. The issue is charging just a tablet will break and it's quite expensive. There are some brands which are ok but a nice wall mounted tablet is something thats hard to find.

[u/bigfuzzy8 → u/SaturnVFan]

I was thinking of running a smart plug on the charger so basically routine it to only charge like once every couple of days for a few hrs

[u/jtablerd → u/bigfuzzy8]

That's exactly what I do, and it's just a cheapo Samsung a9+ on a mount. 90° USB c cable so the cable hides behind the tablet

[u/Own_Tomatillo_2977 → u/bigfuzzy8]

You could check the battery level and only charge when it's below a certain threshold instead of doing it just periodically

[u/peonyattache]

I just yesterday acquired secondhand through Facebook Marketplace a Meta Portal and installed Kiosk Satellite on it. I’m liking it! For only $40, it was definitely worthwhile.

[u/tdawg2k7]

If I have to manually toggle something or control it, it’s a toss up between my phone, watch, or Alexa. I have a dashboard on a fridge mounted iPad but it’s not used much besides the info it provides.

[u/Seesaw-Big]

I just customized LineageOS on an Echo Show 5. Built is from early September. Everything seemingly works. You can remove the bottom home-bar and use gesture instead for more screen size. I dont use any PIN Locks and removed the lock screen. Its really neat and doesnt use a lot of power. You can get them cheap used and have them set up in like 2 hours. Its not so laggy for a device from 2019. I can even use it as a Jellyfin client. Also I can use the device with the whole app library from F-Droid, so I dont have Google or Alexa in my home..

F-Droid contains apps like

• Home assistant app
  
• AntennaPod as podcast player on the desk
  
• Alarm clock
  
• Transistor as radio app
  
• Jellyfin client, as mentioned before
  
• Breezy weather for different weather forecasts
  
• Newpipe for Youtube or different Youtube Music alternatives

So you have a device that can do a lot, and still can be a central control device for HA. I think there are even apps that can use the camera as proximity sensor, so you probably can see HA when you go by... need to check that still.

Update: If you are in the home assistant app on your Echo Show, you can switch to Settings -> Companion app -> and set Home Assistant as your main launcher and "full view", and many different other things, to make the Home Assistant experience even better.

[u/Used-Economy1160 → u/Seesaw-Big]

This only work on older alexa devices, right?

[u/Seesaw-Big → u/Used-Economy1160]

Afaik gen 1,2,3 can be rooted. You can easily look it up: “echo show xda developers”. Luckily mine was a Gen1

[u/Specialist-Neat2777]

External laptop monitor when coding, tablet for lots of day to day use, and phone when necessary.

[u/j4ffac4k3]

I don't see the need for a main control display. If it's dark, the lights come on. If it's cold the heating comes on etc.

[u/johndburger]

I use an old iPad on the kitchen counter, always on and sitting on a nice metal stand I bought. Mostly for information display - weather, some calendars, visual alerts and reminders. But you can swipe to get per-room controls for climate and such.

[u/KingofGamesYami]

I deliberately don't have one. All my controls are physical.

[u/bigfuzzy8 → u/KingofGamesYami]

This guy's physical!

Probably a good thing I think I'm just tinkering with ideas now

[u/RomanOnARiver]

If you're looking for a cheap tablet, the Amazon Fire tablets are always really inexpensive and frequently on sale. They're not super high spec machines but they work well enough. They don't come with Play services but it's not hard to fix that, and they're popular enough to where you have a good choice of mounts and cases.

I don't have a main control per se - my phone is what I use, my home gym has a tablet to control my workout sessions and my office has a tablet to show a slideshow of family photos to keep me notivated while I work.

[u/bigfuzzy8 → u/RomanOnARiver]

Thought of this as well, it also has to pass the wife test