{"id":2983,"date":"2026-01-19T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sascha-brockel.de\/?p=2983"},"modified":"2026-01-15T21:33:56","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T20:33:56","slug":"home-assistant-2026-1-automations-rethought-dashboards-made-simple","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sascha-brockel.de\/en\/home-assistant-2026-1-automations-rethought-dashboards-made-simple\/","title":{"rendered":"Home Assistant 2026.1: Rethinking automations & making dashboards simple"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/span>Estimated reading time: <\/span>12<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Welcome to the year 2026! I hope you got off to a good start. While we're still recovering from the New Year's Eve fireworks, the Nabu Casa team has set off fireworks of a completely different kind right at the start of the year. Home Assistant 2026.1 is here - and let's get straight to the point: It is perhaps one of the most important \u201eQuality of Life\u201c updates in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember the days when we had to write complicated Jinja2 templates just to find out if there was a window open on the top floor? Or the endless discussions about how to build a dashboard that really works on a smartphone? good<\/em> without sinking hours into YAML configurations?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the 2026.1 release, which has the motto \u201eHome is where the dashboard is\u201c, these old habits are being cut away. Franck Nijhof and the team have outdone themselves by simplifying complex logic in such a way that it can finally be natural<\/em> feels. In this detailed deep dive, we take a look at why the new automation editor changes everything, why your \u201eareas\u201c are suddenly the most important thing in your smart home and what the new protocol dashboards are all about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grab a coffee (perhaps from your Home Assistant integrated machine?), sit back and let's dive in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For detailed instructions and explanations of all configuration options, I recommend watching the YouTube video linked below. This video goes into detail about each individual setting, providing you with comprehensive instructions on how to set everything up correctly. Any code from the video can be found in this article, so you can use it directly without having to type it out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This blog post, including video, is part of a series in which we build and set up our own home server. We start with the basics, such as installing Ubuntu VM with Docker, and then move on to configuring our own domain, security measures, and, above all, lots of cool and useful self-hosted services. Whether it's media servers like Plex or Jellyfin or document management like Paperless-NGX, we'll work together to build the setup you want to see. We'll even tackle topics like single sign-on (SSO) together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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