I’ve been using HA for over a year now and i’m pretty happy with it. Installed it on my server and didn’t need to make any extra costs regardig hubs en such for different kinds of devices.
Now i’ve tried to use Node-Red for a while but i’m reaching my own limitations with that. The flows look and feel better to use then the automations section in HA itself. But the whole thing with the more programming style with json and messages and such seemed to be too hard for me. I also don’t have the time or motivation to get into this more complex way of making automations.
Now i’ve got some friends that got themselves a Homey Pro and use the advanced flows. It looks exactly the same as node-red but is more simplified for it’s users. A style i really like.
Now i’m doing some research on the Homey and it’s pro’s and con’s. But the main and only reason i would buy one of these is because of these simplified advanced flows.
Now a Homey Pro costs €400,-. That is a lot considering i only want it to use one specific function (allright, it also supports matter, z-wave, zigbee etc out of the box. A little plus for it).
So here’s my question: Is there some sort of integration possible in HA that looks like the advanced flows from Homey? So like node-red but simplified?
Are you referring to the normal automation creation in HA? Because i am familiar with that one. But it isn’t the flow chart from node-red / homey. I have some specified and light advanced automations. Not really crazy tho. But the thing is i like the flow chart from node-red and homey. I can group multiple automations on one page instead of creating a new automation everytime where i also need to think about the naming patern since HA sorts them alfabatically (state or area).
I have found to achieve some advanced stuff in Node-Red, my javascript coding skills have come in handy. But for the most part, you can achieve most things just by using a lot of nodes. Do you have an example of an advanced flow your Homey friends are able to do and you aren’t in node-red? Perhaps I can help shed some light on it (alltho I’m still learning Node-Red as well).
If there’s one thing I dislike about Node-Red, it’s that you can’t see all automations that a device is involved with as you can with home assistant automations when looking at a device page in home assistant.
@tom_l I’ve searched a bit and couldn’t find any statement from HA team regarding the future plans for the automation editor. I think there are good arguments that it should evolve into a direction where advanced flow in Homey is already. You can also see a similar development when you e.g. look at how the Power Automate workflow editor of Microsoft has developed. It started in a similar style like HA many years back but now MS has also transformed the editor UI into a much more dynamic ui with a flexible canvas which makes it much easier to also navigate/handle/overlook more complex automations. As many stated before in the forums and comments Node Red is just too complicated for average users with no advanced coding skills and it’s also not native part of HA.
I’m pretty sure with an increasing number of HA users that will be increasingly familiar with how e.g. MS is developing their low code/no code ui approach HA will be increasingly perceived as backward. I know you are working on many different aspects of HA and I can imagine it’s not always easy to decide on priorities with the (limited) resources you have and I’m sure there’s enough understanding also on the community side that such improvements take time. That’s why I’m only asking for some more comprehensive general statement on this and maybe an outlook if you see this topic on the roadmap some time in the near future.
Just to give an idea how MS Power Automate has changed (see Power Automate: New vs Classic Designer - what's the difference? for more though of course MS Power Automate should also not be looked at the best of the best approaches, I’m just taking it as an example and I’m sure there are even better ui approaches):
