Home Assistant Voice PE installation issue

Installation
1

Brand new user to Home Assistant.

Today I got the HA Voice Preview Edition. I connected the USB-C cable. Installed the Home Assistant app on my phone. When starting the app it tries to connect to a server but it is stuck trying to find one.

What do I need to do?

2

You need to have a Home Assistant server running. HA is not a cloud service, it’s a local one. This isn’t like an Alexa where you plug it in and send all your stuff to Amazon. The mobile app and the HA Voice Preview Edition are both expecting to talk to a local Home Assistant server you’ve setup that is running your home automation.

1 Like
3

Thanks for the reply!

Maybe this should be in the prerequisites.
It’s advertised as plug-and-play.

Edit: I guess it is under Home Assistant installation.

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4

Correct plug and play does not mean you don’t need the base system requirement of the host system.You can’t plug and play a new Webcam to a windows pc if you don’t have one…

Also pe stands for ‘preview edition’ (literally even mentioned in the release webcast) and its very early release - so realize YOU WILL bump your head on things and find some things that feel unfinished. You’ll have to setup HA first which in itself will be a lift. Seeing you were suprised by needing HA… Just be sure you’re ready to build for that experience. If so it’s a very rewarding venture. If you have ha plug it in and it connects to HA and works very well but not perfectly. But set your expectations on what ‘works’ is. It’s not at all a finished project.

5

For those in the know it’s “obvious” that you need a server for it to function.

When watching several Youtube videos and reading about it they say that you need Home Assistant which I thought was just a software solution such as the app or a cloud function. In the “setup guides” they just start the app and goes from there.

When I read more thoroughly on the website from where I bought it it says that you need what you’re saying so it’s on me ofc.

But it should in my opinion be more clear for new users.

One solution could be a bundle with Home Assistant Green.