Hi everyone,
I wanted to share a project I have been working on: HA Desktop Widget.
It is an unofficial community project for Home Assistant, focused on being a lightweight desktop widget and quick-control surface.
GitHub / downloads:
Repository:
What it does
HA Desktop Widget gives you a transparent, Rainmeter-style desktop widget for controlling and monitoring your most-used Home Assistant entities without opening a browser.
Some highlights:
- Real-time Home Assistant entity updates over the WebSocket API
- Customizable quick-access grid for lights, switches, fans, covers, locks, sensors, climate, media players, cameras, scenes, scripts, buttons, timers, automations, and more
- Movable/resizable desktop pins for selected entities
- Custom names and icons without changing your Home Assistant entity names
- Light/dark themes, custom accent/background colors, opacity controls, and frosted glass effects
- Optional weather animations such as rain, snow, sun, clouds, and storms
- Global hotkeys for entities and a popup hotkey to bring the widget forward
- Desktop notifications for entity state changes
- System tray support and optional start-at-login
- Cross-platform builds for Windows, macOS, and Linux
- Optional profile sync through a cloud-folder JSON file, with local-only connection/token data
Screenshots
The README includes screenshots of the main widget, edit/reorganize mode, light controls, personalization settings, and weather effects. I kept this first post light on media because of the forum's new-user link limits.
Setup
- Download the latest build for your OS from the releases page.
- Open the app and go to Settings.
- Enter your Home Assistant URL.
- Create a long-lived access token in Home Assistant and paste it into the app.
- Add the entities you want in Quick Access.
Tokens are stored locally and encrypted at rest when supported by the OS. Profile sync is opt-in, and Home Assistant URL/token data stays local rather than being written into the sync file.
Feedback welcome
I would love feedback from other Home Assistant users, especially around:
- Entity types you would expect a desktop widget to support
- Desktop pin workflows
- Notification/alert behavior
- Linux/macOS/Windows packaging quirks
- Anything that feels confusing during first setup
The project is MIT licensed and open source. Issues and pull requests are welcome.