Why the heck is Settings so confusing to navigate?

Why is add-ons a separate menu item.
It would be more logical to move this to a separate tab in devices and services.

Is it a device, is it a service, or is it a link to a collection of addons?

Additionally there is already a WTH about the logic, or lack there of, in the settings menu, perhaps you would like me to merge this there?

For new users it is hard to understand the difference between an add-on and an integration.
If the are in the same menu, it is easier to switch between these 2.
It also follows a hierarchy:
Add-ons are additions to HA
Integrations are integrated in HA
Devices are child objects of integrations

You can merge this as suggestion in the mentioned topic

+1 to this.

All of these are “optional extras I want to add/delete from HA”, The fact that they happen to be implemented differently or have a different history is of no interest to the user.

I’d suggest they are all “add ons” in the mind of the user. I’ve been using HA for at least five or six years and I still have to think hard about which menu item to choose when I want to “add on” something.

I would add HACS to this list too. I know that the community contributed elements are a completely different animal, but they serve the same function so maybe they should be in the same place, at least from the top level.

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I think this is a bad example because windows has said goodbye to that configuration panel with a reason. The new (since windows 10 already) settings page is more intuitive in my eyes, makes use of widescreens better and was rearranged. Exactly what we propose for HA to do. More intuitive, make use of bigger screens if possible and rearrange.

If I have the time this weekend, I’ll make a mockup. No promises though, because I have a busy weekend already.

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God, please don’t do that! That will be one more click if I just want to start/stop the add-on :confused: (Cause it is not possible to easily do it from add-on’s shortcut on HA sidebar.)

I must say when they changed the settings menu I didn’t like it… nor did I really hate it… however after a while I gotten used to it and now I know my way around it. Maybe the only illogical thing I can remember is the energy settings which is in Dashboards… I mean yes… it’s a dashboard… but still kinda messy to put it there…

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No they haven’t? I took that screenshot yesterday morning… Maybe you’re confusing Control Panel with Settings? Either way, if you look at settings… it looks oddly familiar…

Actually, I need to say that IMHO HA Settings seems to be designed better than Windows. I don’t know Windows much, so thanks for the reference.
I personally really like the idea of using different colors for Settings icons background (circle). That is indeed quite helpful.

@petro
That’s an old style settings menu, the current one is as per below.

It has categories on the left and sections on the right (with description).

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Hey hey read all the comments and can’t agree with the criticisms of the HA or HAC navigation system.

I use the HomeAssistant system with a screen reader (NVDA on Windows and TalkBack on Android), I have problems with my eyesight and (seriously) I am able to go quite quickly to the currently needed menu option in HA or HAC. The example from MS Windows (with the current settings in Win 10 - hotkey: Win + i), is a good example of a good UX. From my point of view, you can definitely follow him.

Coming back to HomeAssistant. It’s great that the menu items in “Settings” have an option title and an option description. If the description is to be removed from the settings in the mobile application, I am absolutely against it. Maybe a different visual presentation of individual options will improve the readability of the options (title and description)? Deleting the description will certainly not simplify the navigation of the HAC settings menu.

What is very important to me, both in the case of HomeAssistant and HomeAssistant Companion, using a screen reader I have no problem with the settings menu. From the accessibility side (WCAG), we have a great job here. And if any modifications are to be made to the settings menu, please go ahead and let the WCAG guidelines be the bible for accessible UX design.

I am also amused by complaining about the multitude of configuration options. It’s some sort of split personality, we want HomeAssistant to be fully configurable, and on the other hand, we’re shedding tears over the amount of setting options. :slight_smile:

For me, the changes in HomeAssistant are from version to version, changes going in the right direction. Finding a new option takes a while, and if we want to drive to a new place, we also need a little more time. And here my big thanks to everyone who contributes to the development of the best building automation system.

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Restart all the different bits (Host/Supervisor/Core) - they used to be in one place.

As others have said, hiding some options under the 3 dots is the most irritating thing. If it’s applicable to that page, put it on the page. e.g.

But what exactly is being restarted? Host? Supervisor? Core?

image

Gererally, I hear a defence of the design rather than listening to the users. I know it isn’t easy, but the customer is always right :slight_smile:

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It’s restarting Home Assistant, which is core. It alludes to that if you read what it’s restarting, which is all items that are in core.

Must be a windows 11 thing, either way, that wouldn’t work on mobile. The menu has to work on mobile and desktop. That’s one of the main reason things are changing.

I disagree. Css allows you to have a totally different look on mobile then on desktop. Not that it has to be different, but it can in a degree help. But I’m actually feeling so much resistance that I think it’s a lost cause already. I think UI can be improved (HA Wide) and settings can benefit from that. But I’m no expert just a user and exactly that is the reason why it’s a lost cause imho.

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Well for one, I’m disagreeing with how confusing it is. Not the layout. This WTH says doesn’t mention anything about desktop or mobile, only that it’s confusing. I don’t think it’s confusing, I think it’s very logical aside from the hidden functions in the … menu. I strongly believe those should appear as menu items at the top of the page, like an entities card.

My attempts at showing the windows ui was to show that it’s familiar with how it displays the information. I.e. Name of sub settings, description of what’s inside. That lead us down this path of picking apart the interface. For that I apologize, but I don’t think it fits here.

In regards to a mobile / desktop version of these pages… that would be a great WTH. However the current implementation is a one size fits all.

I don’t see “Automations” under settings at all. They are not settings, they are first class citizens and one of the main parts of HA. They should be in an own navigation menu just like the Energy Dashboard.

It’s the second option or third menu item labeled “Automations and Scenes”…. Not sure how that’s not obvious enough.

:man_shrugging:

Possibly lost in translation - not sure what you mean by ‘eludes’

Either way, that restart element is part of a menu that includes the HW. It is therefore an assumption that users will know that this restart is to restart core.

It would be better to have a ‘restart menu’ with the 3 different options listed together IMHO.

‘Confusing’ might not be the best adjective, but there are issues with this menu and the layout of the different options. It is better than it was (in some ways) but other things are worse (being able to see Core, Supervisor and HA OS version/status all in one place for one).

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Alludes, my bad. Didn’t realize there were different spelling variations.

That’s not the assumption that’s intended but I could see it. Either way, hardware contains the items to reboot and shutdown the hardware.

If you read the message, it tells you what’s restarting. It does not mention add-ons, the host machine, or anything else. It mentions the ‘main’ services that are affected.

Home Assistant originally had that, but people wanted to get to that button faster. So it was pealed out of the … and put as a button. You have to keep in mind that other people want other things than what you want, this current UI is an iteration after about a years worth of feedback from the community. You can’t make everyone happy and you have to draw the line at some point. Does that mean the UI won’t change in the future? No. But you have to realize that we are trying to compromise with all users. Sometimes, you might have to compromise.

You can still see that. It’s buried in a menu item. Yes, it’s not user friendly. It’s a hot button with me and many other people in the community because you wouldn’t expect it to be where it’s placed.

Settings → System → Repairs → 3 dots → System Information.

I doubt this will be the final resting place for this information as there’s been a lot of confused people looking for this specific menu item.