Hey, team HA. I'm Paulie

Hey guys, I just got a Home Assistant Blue. I’m happy, I used to run on a Pi 4 but… I never really got farther than creating a node red map for one bathroom light.

I. Have. Tons. Of. Smart. Home. Products. 40 Philips Hue Lights. 3 Cheapy cameras. Motion and Smart TVs and … we’ll ya’ll know. I even have SOME RFID chips; hey are the kinda like keychain looking ones. Not very substainsial - will these work for waving my iPhone 11 over, all the same?

I want to dive into my HA setup this time - I never could give up ‘Philips Hue’ app or… other garbage, last time… I’m excited about the new… integrations - I forget what HA calls them, but I heard about that at the conference a few months ago.

Any suggestions? I’m not a TOTAL newb… but should be treated as such. Just one that is very… Linuxy, techy, won’t be new for long - IF I ‘catch the wave’. Help me catch the wave.

Hoping theres a great community here… I run a BBS and still have DEEP integration into my tech community; on a small scale. Have an ANSI capable terminal? Dial 20 fOr beeRS bbS @ 20ForBeers.com port 1337. Telnet >> MUST HAVE ANSI!

Alright… connecting Blue this weekend! Where do I get started with the NEW way to import… the new integrations. (And, what are they called again?!)

Please leave all your tips below: They won’t fall on deaf ears. Is Node Red still a must-have??? I’m on the HA Blue - is it strong enough for you???

pAULIE42o
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What’s up Paul! Don’t worry, it’s not too bad to catch the wave. It’s always gotten easier with the help of the forms and reddit (They’re your friend when it comes to HA!). RFID tags will work with the iPhone 11 but it depends how old yours are. Try adding them in the companion app. What do you mean by import? and integrations are still called integrations. This site is the integration docs and index. Node-Red isn’t a requirement but, is definitely useful for more difficult tasks and automations. And HA Blue is plenty powerful, don’t worry. Personally I run HA in a VM which is definitely overkill.

Node Red has never been a “must have”.

Start here:

Thanks to both of y’all. So… I used Node Red last time, but think I’ll take your advice and start with the built in stuff and move outward from there. Part of my problem is I don’t k ow what I want to do!! I have some 60+ devices, and… is there somewhere to see what other users are doing, or…

You know I’ve always just used the different apps by the developer. Hue app. Ring app. August app. Etc. I know I’d like some ‘watch TV’ button that dims lights and sets a scene.

Also, that’s one thing I never thought was GREAT in HA… the Philips Hue app is GREAT, end easily allows you to select crazy colors. And even has… you can import an image and with touch screen can select colors out of that image to create a scene that matches colors in that image. Is there any fancy way to select colors?

Another thing… I use an app called On Switch and its rad- it has like ‘lightning storm’ or ‘scary Halloween zombie scene’ or ‘clouds’ and create awesome themes with colors that change, simulating clouds going by… or other things. Is there some way to simulate that in HA; or… is there a killer add-on that does this?

Or, am I still gonna be using those apps I love1 and HA is just gonna do the smart automation stuff behind them? I hope it’s the ONLY thing I ever have to use… but I’d have to duplicate all the functionality of my other apps.

Thank you guys! I’ll read the links you posted, and I joined the HA discord… so see ya round!

Paulie420
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