I’m not technical, so please bear with me! I’ve installed the companion app on Android on my phone, but it’s asking for the URL of my server. I don’t have a server - just a desktop PC, a laptop and a phone. What does it need this URL for and, if it’s essential, how do I create or find it?
You need to install home assistant on something.
That will be your server the app connects to.
Having read through (and despite having been a computer systems programmer very many years ago), I suspect that the level of technical expertise required may exceed my abilities! However, I’ll persevere a little longer. Am I correct in understanding that I either need a dedicated machine running Linux, or a Linux virtual machine within Windows?
The necessary skill set depends on what you want to set up with HA. I’ve been tinkering with home automations and energy monitoring for a bit now, but only a year ago did I take on HA with a Home Assistant Green. There are other more powerful hardware options, but I’ve been impressed with it. Mind you, I’m not into DIY hardware, mostly off the shelf IP and ZHA home automation devices.
I have 2 Hue hubs (<100 bulbs, switches), a weather station, electric panel monitors, and a good 50 or so sensors (motion, contact, climate) running with very little stress on the system. It’s all automated with HA, but components are fed to Apple Homekit for voice control and if the family prefers the HK app for control of devices. If I wanted to have the security cameras showing in HK in HA, I think that would call for more powerful hardware for HA to run on, but so far there’s very little stress on the Green for all that.
You can find 2 or 3 alternative hardware options to choose from wherever you can purchase an HA Green, for specs and pricing.
Or just a raspberry pi. That’s the minimum you need and will work fine for quite a long time.
Do not use Windows as the host OS for servers. It will shut down without warning for updates.
And you can do this. There are many, many non technical people who have, and you have some understanding of computers.
To be honest, I appear to have very few appliances that would benefit from being controlled from an alternative or single device. My security system is Ajax, my wifi system is Ubiqiti and my heating system is Rointe. They are all controlled quite adequately from phone apps and, in any case, do not appear to be compatible with HA. Yes, they all use different apps, but they are all on the same phone, so that doesn’t give me a major problem. I have a Fermax door control system, which I have communicated about in the forum, but am about to transfer that to the nearest skip(!) and replace it with an Ezviz system which, apparently, works very well with a simple phone app. To cut a long story short, I just wanted to experiment with HA without investing in new hardware. I’ll try the VM approach, and see how that goes.
There is an option in Windows to always notify and require confirmation of updates. I use it permanently on my wife’s PC, because we’ve found that, for some reason, updates always screw up her machine. The option works well and totally prevents automatic Windows updates.
It does not work reliably. Many people report this.
But for testing to see if Home Assistant is for you it will be fine.
I’m guessing, from that advice, that the server needs to run 24/7 and always be connected to the internet? In that case, my laptop is obviously not a suitable server host. I could use my wife’s PC ( which is very rarely used these days as the phone has taken its place!) - that one has a block on Windows updates, so should be reliable and would be, effectively, a dedicated machine.
Yes on 24/7.
That’s the other reason for using a small single board computer like a pi or an N100 NUC - power consumption.
If you are happy with all those apps and don’t want any of it to be controlled by itself then I see no reason to use HA.
But most of us here want something to happen by itself at some time or when something else happens.
Like when we flip down the TV, it turns on and starts the news by itself.
Or how the dehumidifier turns on when I open the washing machine.
Interesting applications! I’ve not found anything yet that enables me to control the (Fujitsu) AC units from my phone - but I believe they can only be controlled by infra-red remotes, so probably not a candidate. Most expats’ TVs here in Spain run on IPTV (on demand) services and I control mine via a FireStick - it’s only switched on for a couple of hours each evening and I can’t imagine wanting it to do anything with it on an automated basis! I really would have liked to take control of my Fermax door opening system (it was Googling that which bought me to the HA site in the first place), but I’ve decided it’s just not a viable, reliable system, so I’m binning it. Just the inherent nerd in me is making me really interested in the HA concept!
That is possible.
Use a IR transmitter
I use solar, so that’s really not an issue for me!
I’ve used it for about 2 years on my wife’s PC - so far, it’s working perfectly.
It’s doable to run it virtual on Windows and depending on how much you rely on HA to control/automate your house, it can become a PITA because this is the worst choice of setup for HA.
HA doesn’t need much CPU power (hence the advice to use a RPi or N100) so a laptop sitting in a cabinet can be a good candidate and as a bonus you get a UPS.
You might not see the benefit of the automation at the moment, but once you get HA up and running you will be heading down the rabbit hole.
Your first automations makes sense, like when you move your phone out of your home area, then HA checks if the alarm is armed and the lights are off.
Later it becomes obscure automations like trying to detect if someone has made a “bigger” thing on the toilet and the fan therefore needs to run for an extended time, but you will do it just b cause it can be done, not b cause it makes sense. 
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