I wanted to share a really cool automation setup I’ve been working on with Home Assistant. It’s all about staying updated with the latest releases without having to manually check every time. Let me walk you through it!
The idea came from a blueprint I found in the community, which sends a notification when there’s a new Home Assistant update available. I decided to tweak it a bit to make it even more user-friendly. Here’s how it works:
- Blueprint Setup: I used the Updater integration to monitor for new versions. When a new release is detected, it triggers the automation.
- Notification Customization: I added options to customize the notification title and message. By default, it says something like “Upgrade Time!” and includes the latest version number.
- Release Notes Integration: If you’re interested in the details, the blueprint can include release notes right in the notification. It even differentiates between iOS and Android devices to make sure the notes are accessible.
- Delay Feature: Sometimes I don’t want to be notified immediately. That’s why I included a delay option, so you can set it to notify you after a few minutes or even an hour.
Here’s a quick look at the blueprint code:
python
blueprint:
name: Home Assistant Update Notification
description: Send a notification when there’s an update available for Home Assistant
domain: automation
input:
updater:
name: Update sensor
description: The sensor which indicates if there’s an update
selector:
entity:
domain: binary_sensor
notification_title:
name: Notification title (Optional)
default: “Upgrade Time!”
notification_message:
name: Notification message (Optional)
default: “Home Assistant {{ newest_version }} is available”
delay:
name: Delay (Optional)
default: 0
notify_device:
name: Device to notify
selector:
device:
integration: mobile_app
include_release_notes:
name: Include release notes
default: true
is_ios:
name: Is it an iOS device?
default: true
I’ve been using this for a week now, and it’s been a lifesaver. No more forgetting to update, and the release notes are super handy. The only thing I haven’t tested yet is the Android notifications, but I’m hopeful it works as smoothly as the iOS version does.
If anyone has suggestions or improvements, I’d love to hear them! Let’s make this even better together. 
Happy automating! 