GoogleTV App

Is there a Google / Android TV app? Is it possible to send messages to the TV just like the phone?

Take a look at this integration:

It requires an application installed on the TV, but it will do what you desire.

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I think it does 50%. I canā€™t see the dashboards, right?

The aforementioned integration/application is for notifications only. If youā€™re looking for dashboards, you might explore a web browser application that will work on Google/Android TV.

The current HA application does not work on Google/Android TV.

Any plans of migrating the phone app to the TV?

Iā€™m not the app developer so I donā€™t know. Maybe someone else will chime in.

You can use the Cast Integration to send your dashboard to the TV.

An interesting idea. For me, it wonā€™t help since other members will not know how do that. I hope a TV app will be easy enough for them to use.

you can sideload the app, but the HA web interface is not designed to be controlled using the d-pad so its a bit tedious to move around

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I donā€™t know if there will ever be resourcing for that but it would be amazing if a tailored HA app existed for Google TV :slight_smile:

Iā€™m curious, whatā€™s the use case for this? What would you control from the remote on your TV that you wouldnā€™t write an automation for?

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Dashboards.
Also not every single corner case can be automated - I donā€™t know if youā€™d want to control anything from your TV necessarily but having the option would be nice. But to me the coolest use case would be having a dashboard. I can absolutely see tinkerers even repurposing old TVs to run massive dashboards on ā€“ because you knowā€¦ :slight_smile:
Of course, you could run from a browser running on the TV.
So all-in-all itā€™s pretty hard to justify spending the time to write a dedicated TV app but it would be a nice-to-have.

Yes or run a browser TV app, but I donā€™t think it quite works the same as a native solution would.

@teek541 Roughly speaking

  • Dashboards to see what is going on. (Web browser work around).

    • Weather report
    • Local air quality.
    • Indoor air quality.
    • Energy usage
  • Getting notifications is a nice to have. I see there is another workaround for this but the app might be better. (Notifications for Android TV / Fire TV - Home Assistant)

    • CO2 level is high
    • someone is at the door
  • At some point I want to install an outside video + audio door bell or light bulb camera for a live feed. I might need to use a tablet for this but would prefer the TV. E.G. Who is at the door and what do they want.

    • I can automate the outdoor walkway and door lights. No real need for a TV app for that.
    • get a notification that some is at / near the door. Would like a TV notification for that
    • See who is at the door
    • Talk with the person at the door

Got ya. I was thinking doing messaging from the TV, You mean actionable notifications to Google TV?

Yes. I donā€™t want to send someone a text message from the TV. I want an ā€œalertā€ that someone is at the door. A virtual door bell. Also useful for the backyard. Is someone prowling around?

Make sense @teek541 ?

Iā€™ve got the app sideloaded on my TV, it is miserable to navigate with the remote, so I did all the setup with a kb/m attached, and set a single default dashboard view with no interactivity, just some camera streams and so on. One other benefit of the app is that it does expose sensors, such as a light sensor for my TV.
Iā€™ve also got notifications for android TV set up, but never actually set up any notifications that go to the TV, so Iā€™m unclear on if that integration offers anything that the app itself canā€™t do.
That reminds me, I need to get the latest companion installed to see if I can set the TV to use HAā€™s voice assistant via the remote instead of Googleā€™s.

Does the sideloaded app allow notifications to show up over the top of what you are watching? The PiPup app allows for notifications as a ā€˜picture in pictureā€™ type thing, plus you can set a time for them to automatically disappear.

The companion app, when sideloaded, requests the android permission to display over other apps. Iā€™ve got no notifications set up for it right now, though.