Controlling Nest Audio Streams with Hue dimmer switch?

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1

Hi there!
I am currently trying out a couple of things with HomeAssistant but I am still very new to it and just seem to understand the basics.
I know, that I can use a Hue dimmer switch to trigger actions in Home Assistant. I also know that I can control media of my Nest devices in Home Assistant. But is it possible to build a “Podcast remote control” for my Nest Audio?

My plan is to be able to control Music/podcast and the volume with the Hue dimmer switch when I’m in my bed.

My goal is to “zap” through the options (Podcast 1, Podcast 2, Spotify Playlist 1, Spotify Playlist 2 etc.) with the first button, while I select with the second button. Button 3 and 4 are volume up and down.

When I “Zap” through the content, it would be great if I could hear my Nest say The podcast name and then wait for me to “accept” it with button two, or skip to the next podcast / music with button one.

Is this somehow possible? And will I as a newbie be able to pull this off?

Thank you very much in advance for your support.

2

Oh wow, I just found one of my first posts from exactly one year ago and it never got an answer. I started with Home Assistant back then and I had no idea of its capabilities. Now - One year later with the past 6 months intensively using it, I can tell myself, that this is absolutely easy to pull off.

If anyone in the future sees this, this is me replying to my past self.

All you need is one automation, one script and a dropdown menu helper (input_select).

The Dropdown Menu Helper contains the list of podcasts / media items that you want to be able to start.

Since I don’t have a hue dimmer swithc left right now, I just created this in the UI for now:

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All of the buttons have a tap action. Important are the first and the second one.

The first one has this action:

tap_action:
  action: call-service
  service: input_select.select_next
  data: {}
  target:
    entity_id: input_select.bettmusikauswahl

Where “input_select.bettmusikauswahl” is the dropdown helper.

The second button has the following action:

tap_action:
  action: call-service
  service: script.podcast_auswahl

Now we need to create this script.

alias: 🎧Podcast Auswahl
sequence:
  - choose:
      - conditions:
          - condition: state
            entity_id: input_select.bettmusikauswahl
            state: Podcast 1
        sequence:
          - service: spotcast.start
            data:
              entity_id: media_player.nest_schlafzimmer
              uri: your podcast ID
              random_song: true
              shuffle: true
              ignore_fully_played: true
      - conditions:
          - condition: state
            entity_id: input_select.bettmusikauswahl
            state: Podcast 2
        sequence:
          - service: spotcast.start
            data:
              entity_id: media_player.nest_schlafzimmer
              uri: your podcast ID
              random_song: true
              shuffle: true
              ignore_fully_played: true
  - choose:
      - conditions: [AND SO ON]
        sequence:
    default: []
mode: single

And finally you need an automation, that announces which podcast you choose.

alias: 🎧Podcast
trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id:
      - input_select.bettmusikauswahl
condition: []
action:
  - service: tts.cloud_say
    data:
      entity_id: media_player.nest_schlafzimmer
      message: "{{ states('input_select.bettmusikauswahl') }}"
mode: single

Now, when you press button 1 X times, it will tell you which Podcast is selected. If you hear the one you want to listen to, it will start playing it by selecting the right URI from the Script.

Total time to build: 10 minutes.

It is interesting to see how much I learned in this year, even tho I see how much there still is.

So, thanks Home Assistant! :slight_smile: