Home assistant companion app

Mobile Apps Home Assistant Companion for Android
1

I have a Samsung tablet that I have in the pantry.
I use a command to turn the screen on when the motion detector detects motion

It works as it should. The issue I have is that the HA app keeps closing. I pin the app and have the dashboard set but every now and then I go in the pantry and the screen comes on but it’s the Samsung home screen.

I didn’t have this issue until I moved houses

Any ideas?

Thanks!

2

I am surprised you did not have this happen in the past. It is the nature of the beast with Android. The OS closes apps as it feels it needs to based on memory usage.

I have three tablets running and it happens on all of them.

I found that most of the time when it happens the state of the app_importance sensor goes from foreground to foreground_service.

So, I use an automation based on that to send command_webview that opens HA again. I also do this on a reboot of the tablets so I don’t have to wait around until it finishes booting and start HA.

alias: Auto Start HA
description: ""
triggers:
  - trigger: state
    entity_id:
      - sensor.living_room_tablet_last_reboot
      - sensor.office_tablet_last_reboot
      - sensor.garage_tablet_last_reboot
  - trigger: state
    entity_id:
      - sensor.living_room_tablet_app_importance
      - sensor.garage_tablet_app_importance
      - sensor.office_tablet_app_importance
    to: foreground_service
conditions: []
actions:
  - data:
      message: command_webview
    action: >-
      notify.{{ trigger.entity_id | replace('sensor.', 'mobile_app_') |
      replace('_last_reboot', '') | replace('_app_importance', '') }}
mode: queued
3

awesome!

thanks ledge. i will give it a whirl

4

If you turn the screen brightness down to 1 instead of turning it off, then it may not close the app. I see this behavior on two always-on displays I have, but they are old Samsung tablets.

5

hey mate.

I’m not sure how to get this to work for my set up.

this is whati currently have in place

alias: screen on pantry motion
description: ""
triggers:
  - trigger: state
    entity_id:
      - binary_sensor.hue_motion_sensor_4_motion
    to: "on"
conditions: []
actions:
  - device_id: 7ac3251d9dd3d54f318f53a9416a2c45
    domain: mobile_app
    type: notify
    message: command_screen_on
mode: single
6

What is it doing or not doing? You have given zero description of the ‘issue’.

7

Yeah i wasnt very clear apologies.

I have a tablet in the pantry and an automation to command screen on when otion is detected. I have the HA app pinned on the tablet on the dashboard required.

sometimes the screen turns on as it should, sometimes it doesnt turn on at all.
sometimes the screen turns on but its the home screen on the tablet and the screen pin has turned itself off. I was hoping to not have to use fully kiosk but i might need to.

thanks

8

I have it working on a newer samsung tablet, but i cant keep the screen on for any longer than 10 seconds at best. I tried to use the other commands but i couldnt get it to work. would someone be able to advise me on how to add it in?

alias: screen on pantry motion
description: ""
triggers:
  - trigger: state
    entity_id:
      - binary_sensor.hue_motion_sensor_4_motion
      - binary_sensor.hue_motion_sensor_5_motion
      - binary_sensor.entrance_motion_sensor_occupancy_2
    to: "on"
conditions: []
actions:
  - device_id: 019555153a947dbf4ef3c514475e76fe
    domain: mobile_app
    type: notify
    message: command_screen_on
mode: single
9

add the keep screen on parameter.

1 Like
10

thanks mate ill get it a go, will it then default to the tablet screen saver settings or will i need to make it turn off?