Add ‘Join dev channel’ option to the UI to make dev channel accessible without the CLI

Feature Requests
1

I think there should be a separate dev channel for HAOS that’s OTA-enabled and built weekly or more frequently.

This will allow users who opt in (or who run a separate test environment) to test rolling changes before they hit production releases.

There is a limit to what I can test as a contributor, and allowing a larger user base to easily test-run dev branch snapshots would help find more potential issues.

Currently, one has to set up a build environment and build the dev branch locally to help with testing. I propose that they should be able to install dev releases via the GUI or CLI as they would install a GA release.

I think that this will become more and more critical as the project grows.

Update: Looks like the above is actually available for the most part. I’d like to see snapshots under the Github releases page, though. Also, after enabling the beta channel, no updates showed up for me, running a freshly deployed ova. Will have to look into that.

So I think what I should be asking for in this FR is:

  1. Add ‘Join dev channel’ option to the UI where, at present, only the beta channel is selectable. Also add a tooltip with information about the release cadence, or a link to the relevant section in the docs.
  2. Add snapshot builds to the Github releases page.
  3. Make os-builds site more easily discoverable.
2

Settings > system > updates > top right hamburger > join beta channel

3

Hmm, I did not initially notice that HAOS was part of the beta channel.

4

How often are the OS builds generated under the beta channel that is currently offered?

5

I did also completely forget that builds are available at https://os-builds.home-assistant.io/

I would also still like to see the snapshots available on the Github releases page, as it is more accessible / easier to point to.

6

When I follow the workflow for joining the beta channel, no updates are presented to me in the UI.

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When I follow the CLI workflow, I get this:
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And:
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Now, when I instead switch to the dev channel (ha supervisor options --channel dev), a new snapshot is indeed picked up on os install, and a new container is picked up after core update.

So I guess there are no beta releases newer than what gets deployed from the current image at this time.

The UI is lacking an option to switch to the dev channel, unless I missed it.

So I think what I should be asking for in this FR is:

  1. Add ‘Join dev channel’ option to the UI where, at present, only the beta channel is selectable. Also add a tooltip with information about the release cadence, or a link to the relevant section in the docs.
  2. Add snapshot builds to the Github releases page.
  3. Make os-builds site more easily discoverable.