Google Assistant Is Basically on Life Support and Things Just Got Worse
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I assume this is going to arrive at the solution of "Upgrade to Gemini-supported devices today!" Yeah, no thanks.
I wish I could get Home Assistant working with my nest minis.I ended up picking up two of the Home Assistant Voice PE devices and I've been fairly happy with them. I even extended their firmware so I have a clock display on each with one being my bedroom alarm clock even. But even out of the box functionality, as long as you can either run faster-whisper on Home Assistant (or another box), or don't mind their lighter device-control-only route, is totally solid.
Plus music streaming to them (with an external speaker attached via the 3.5mm jack) is pretty good!
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Does it work with music assistant in HA? Thanks for the response btw
It does! I have my bedroom one controlled through it and even showing up as a play target for Spotify Connect. I've got my speakers I was plugging into my phone to play music before, or into a Raspi briefly, plugged into the 3.5mm jack on that one.
My kitchen one I just leave as-is. I DID modify the ESPHome firmware on each, extending to add an OLED (I think) clock display that also shows remaining time for timers in numbers. I do really like the LED ring animation for timers built-in though, it's pretty slick!
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I did see something recently about local LLMs and voice input layers. The post made it seem very Jarvis like, think it may have been the voice used or the name.
Knowing nothing about tech other than I want my privacy I am hoping it is feasible for the common man
It has several modes. The most basic is speech to text, pattern match, then implement. It also has text to speak for feedback. No actual AI in the loop.
It's also capable of tying to AI models in various ways. It's mainly intended for question answering. Either general, or about your data.
I personally don't trust a non-deterministic AI having direct control of my house, so the split is useful.
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I have three lights that were wired to one switch. With smart bulbs, I can individually turn them on and off or dim them. No "dumb" solution exists for homes that were wired in a stupid way. This isn't a niche application, it's a common reality.
You can get socket extensions where the bulb goes into it and then each extension is connected to a wall mount remote switch. No wifi needed and then you have a wall switch for each bulb.
Doesn't fit into every light fixture though depends on the design.
Edit:
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It also needs to fail gracefully. A smart switch needs to fail to a dumb switch, not "no switch".
and retire gracefully, where the device becomes open source and available to the community of owners who have invested in it.
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No need for this. A Z-Wave or Zigbee thermostat does the same thing.
Which one would you recommend?
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I ended up picking up two of the Home Assistant Voice PE devices and I've been fairly happy with them. I even extended their firmware so I have a clock display on each with one being my bedroom alarm clock even. But even out of the box functionality, as long as you can either run faster-whisper on Home Assistant (or another box), or don't mind their lighter device-control-only route, is totally solid.
Plus music streaming to them (with an external speaker attached via the 3.5mm jack) is pretty good!
They do work pretty well, I'm phasing out the Google homes in my house trying to go completely local, and the voice PEs are pretty good for voice control.
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Long time google assistant user, but them putting Gemini in it is what I'm afraid of, not the solution.
This is yet another "google released a product, didn't know what to do with it, and made zero updates over the last decade, so now they're killing it." I don't think they've ever fixed the bugs that existed the first day I bought mine. The speaker is handy for casting to, but also cast is a shitty non-open protocol.
Kinda just agree with the "everything in this space sucks" unfortunately.
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You can get socket extensions where the bulb goes into it and then each extension is connected to a wall mount remote switch. No wifi needed and then you have a wall switch for each bulb.
Doesn't fit into every light fixture though depends on the design.
Edit:
If Google assistant ends up dying this is the way I'll be going with. I've already got HA up, I'm just using stuff that predates my HA setup.
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Don't put extra internet connected microphones in your house.
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Which one would you recommend?
I bought a Honeywell Z-Wave thermostat because I have a more complicated HVAC setup than the typical American home. It was one of the few I could find that was compliant with a home automation protocol that didn't require something that announced its existence to the Internet. It's been solidly reliable, replacing my dead Nest thermostat.
The thermostat:
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I imagine more as in using them for local voice. Without that, it's still dependent on connecting HA to Google Home. And outside of a fairly expensive hardware replacement module it ends up being cheaper to go other routes.
Ahh I see. I've been meaning to try out building a local Assistant to replace my Google Homes with Home Assistant Voice for a while, just haven't tried it out yet.
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I bought a Honeywell Z-Wave thermostat because I have a more complicated HVAC setup than the typical American home. It was one of the few I could find that was compliant with a home automation protocol that didn't require something that announced its existence to the Internet. It's been solidly reliable, replacing my dead Nest thermostat.
The thermostat:
Cool, I've come across this before. I have been looking for a more open thermostat, preferably esp32 based, that I can have good local control over. I have started to do the board layout for one with some air quality sensors built in.
If you don't mind me asking whats more complicated about your hvac setup? Multistage? Heat pump? Multizone?
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You got to love the author of that article. If you want the lights to turn off and on normally, maybe people should use light switches. Those aren't going to break due to software downgrades, those don't require Gemini or internet connections.
And I understand, there are rare situations when throwing the internet at your home appliances can make sense for solving niche problems. Those situations definitely exist, but for almost everyone almost all of the time, but it's pretty fucking easy to turn lights off and on.
My rule for home automation is that it has to work in a low-tech way. I get Zigbee switches for certain things, but they work as just a light switch if everything is down. This is not true of Phillips Hue bulbs.
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I Still get their apps confused because of the stupid icon updates....or maybe I stupid and can't learn new things.
It does take me several seconds to realize which one is which, so I sometimes go by their arrangement on my home screen. Avant-garde design, I guess.
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Get an ESP32, a temperature sensor, and 4x relay board and build your own with esphome!
If you pull the instructions for your thermostat, the wiring guide should tell you what each wire is for (because you can't trust wire colors). From there it's just wiring up the relays properly, getting the config built in esphome, and setting up a generic thermostat.
It sounds kinda daunting, but it's really not super complex. The only gotchas too look out for are any of the relays that can't be on when another relay is on. There's a way to prevent that in esphome. I'm sure someone has made a guide on it by now. I would have made one if I had gotten my enclosure figured out before my 3D printer took a hiatus.
If you want just a temp sensor https://apolloautomation.com/products/temp-1
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You got to love the author of that article. If you want the lights to turn off and on normally, maybe people should use light switches. Those aren't going to break due to software downgrades, those don't require Gemini or internet connections.
And I understand, there are rare situations when throwing the internet at your home appliances can make sense for solving niche problems. Those situations definitely exist, but for almost everyone almost all of the time, but it's pretty fucking easy to turn lights off and on.
Automated lighting based on day of week and weather is fun tho, then again I run it through home assistant lol
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You got to love the author of that article. If you want the lights to turn off and on normally, maybe people should use light switches. Those aren't going to break due to software downgrades, those don't require Gemini or internet connections.
And I understand, there are rare situations when throwing the internet at your home appliances can make sense for solving niche problems. Those situations definitely exist, but for almost everyone almost all of the time, but it's pretty fucking easy to turn lights off and on.
I turn several lights on and off with a single command. The smart thermostat is the killer app for me though.
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Don't put extra internet connected microphones in your house.
I just ditched my nest camera after 6ish years. Fuck the spys
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Found the one in the picture in my office while I was cleaning. I just threw it away
