Hi everyone,
I wanted to introduce SYNC Dashboard, an Android dashboard app I’ve been building for Home Assistant.
The idea behind SYNC is simple: turn an Android tablet into a clean, touch-friendly smart home dashboard that can be used as a wall panel, bedside controller, kitchen display, media controller, camera screen, or general Home Assistant control surface.
SYNC connects directly to your Home Assistant instance. You can log in to discovered H.A instance or enter your Home Assistant URL and access token, then build dashboards using widgets. Your dashboard configuration is stored locally on the device, and the app is designed to work without a developer-operated cloud service for normal use.
What You Can Build
SYNC supports multiple dashboards, so you can create different pages for rooms, devices, family members, or use cases.
For example:
- Main home overview
- Security and cameras
- Lighting control
- Music control
- Energy monitoring
- Bedside dashboard
- Wall-mounted tablet dashboard
- Cleaning/vacuum page
- Weather and calendar page
Dashboards use a flexible grid layout. In edit mode you can add, move, resize, and configure widgets. Dashboards can have custom names, icons, themes, navigation direction, and wallpapers.
Widgets Currently Available
SYNC includes a growing list of widgets, including:
- Lights with dimming and control options
- Switches
- Scenes for one-tap lighting or automation triggers
- Covers for blinds, curtains, shutters, garage doors, gates, and similar devices
- Locks
- Climate / HVAC controls
- Sensors
- Gauges for numeric values
- Number and input_number controls
- Select entity controls
- Control dials and sliders
- Weather with current conditions and forecast strip
- Clock and date widgets
- Calendar widgets using Home Assistant calendars or ICS / iCal URLs
- Camera widgets
- Embedded web page widgets
- Embedded Home Assistant dashboard widgets with kiosk mode ( requires kiosk mode from HACS to be installed in H.A )
- App launcher widgets for opening Android apps
- Cleaning / vacuum control widgets (basic for now )
- Home energy monitoring
- Music Assistant widget ( continuing to improve )
- Music visualizer widget
- SYNC intercom widget
Camera Support
Camera widgets can display Home Assistant camera entities and direct RTSP streams
.
There is also camera automation support. A sensor or event entity, such as a doorbell or motion trigger, can automatically expand a selected camera, web widget, or embedded Home Assistant dashboard full-screen for a set period.
Music Assistant Features
SYNC has a dedicated Music Assistant widget.
It can browse and play music from Music Assistant, including albums, artists, playlists, tracks, radio, and search results. It also has a speaker screen where you can select playback targets, group speakers, adjust master volume, change individual speaker volume, mute speakers, and control playback.
There is also support for using the tablet as a Music Assistant player through the tablet music player feature. This allows the music visualizer to react to audio, including a visualizer-only mode where the tablet can stay grouped for visualizer data without outputting audio through the tablet speakers.
Screensavers
SYNC includes several screensaver options for tablet-style installs.
Screensaver options include:
- Dimmed dashboard
- Built-in animated/video style backgrounds
- Device video backgrounds
- Camera carousel screensaver
- Music visualizer screensaver
- Clock and date overlays
- Weather overlays
- Calendar/event overlays
- Entity status display
- Alert display modes
- Camera grid and carousel layouts
- Wake/sleep control using a Home Assistant sensor
- Optional front-camera wake support on supported devices
There is also a music screensaver mode. When music is playing through the tablet/Music Assistant setup, SYNC can temporarily switch to a visualizer screensaver with its own clock/date layout. When music stops, it returns to the user’s normal screensaver setup.
Backups And Restore
SYNC includes local backup and restore tools.
You can create local JSON backups, choose where local backups are stored, share backups through Android’s share sheet, and import backups from places like Files, Google Drive, or OneDrive.
Backups can be restored in two ways:
- Replace: restore the full configuration
- Merge: import dashboards as copies while keeping current settings
There are also per-dashboard backup/export options and scheduled automatic backups for Premium users.
Appearance And Layout ( simple for now, plans to implement more )
There are multiple visual customization options:
- Multiple dashboard themes
- Accent palettes
- Widget card styles
- Per-widget theme overrides
- Widget transparency controls
- Per-widget glow controls
- Dashboard wallpapers
- Wallpaper dim and blur controls
- Custom dashboard icons
- Left/right or up/down dashboard navigation
The goal is to let the dashboard look clean on a wall tablet but still be practical for everyday use.
Premium
SYNC has a free mode and Premium mode.
Premium starts with a 7 day free trial and unlocks advanced features such as:
- Unlimited dashboards
- Premium widgets including Web, Calendar, Home Assistant Dashboard, Music, Music Visualizer, Intercom, and Home Energy
- Screensaver extras
- Device video screensavers
- Wake with front camera
- Dashboard wallpapers
- Per-dashboard backup/export/restore
- Tablet music player settings
- SYNC intercom settings
- Voice announcements
- Scheduled automatic backups
- Future premium extras
How It Works
Basic setup is:
- Install SYNC on an Android tablet or device.
- Enter your Home Assistant URL and long-lived access token.
- Create one or more dashboards.
- Add widgets and select the Home Assistant entities you want to control or display.
- Use edit mode to arrange and resize everything.
- Customize themes, screensaver behavior, backups, music, intercom, and other settings as needed.
It is built for dedicated android wall tablets, but it can also be used casually on any Android device.
Privacy / Local First
SYNC talks directly to the Home Assistant instance you configure. Dashboard configuration is stored locally on the Android device. Backups are local unless you explicitly share or export them somewhere else.
Feedback Welcome
I’d really appreciate feedback from Home Assistant users as this is still a work in progress app.
Things I’m especially interested in hearing:
- What widgets you would want next
- What devices or entities do not behave as expected
- Camera or Music Assistant edge cases
- Ideas for better wall-tablet workflows
- Screensaver ideas
- Any rough edges in first-time setup
Google Play link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.syncdashboard.app
Thanks everyone. I hope this is useful for people wanting a dedicated Home Assistant dashboard experience on Android.
