So I follow a few installers on Control4 on Instagram and I must admit it looks amazing. Clean interface where you can select a logo like “media” then it loads a new screen where you can select what to watch where etc.
I was wondering if people thought HA would ever get close to these sort of features and interface?
I don’t know much about HA so maybe it already can get close but not seen much evidence of it.
Things like Sonos in Control4 is pretty much as flexible as the Sonos app for example, you can select any song, any Sonos which doesn’t seem to be the sort of thing the Sonos addon for HA can do.
Here’s a few images of Control4. What are people’s thoughts?
Can’t work out if you’re being sarcastic. Just to be clear I’m not unhappy with home assistant and I’m not saying a paid for super high end system is “better” than a free open source application that runs on a £30 pi I just meant is it feasible / does HA have the ability to do similar things or does Control4 have special deals with Sonos etc so they can offer more control / features
So far this is as close as I’ve seen to what you are looking for. I would highly doubt Control4 has any special deal with Sonos to offer more features. You have to remember that HA is free and attempting to reach the widest audience possible. Therefore they have more of a shotgun approach to integrations with a massive catalog of supported components. Some of them are very basic while others include nearly everything you could ask for. For example the latest Nest component pretty much recreates your thermostat UI into the HA UI. I find that pretty awesome.
As the old saying goes nothing in life comes free. You trade monetary expense for a time expense with HA. That time expense is spent in setup as well as patience waiting for advanced features to roll out.
Yeah I’d seen that, that’s what got me thinking it was probably possible in terms of UI which made me wonder if it was possible in terms of software / interaction with other services.
I know someone asked on reddit a while ago about how you could play a movie in Plex on Apple TV using HA and the reply was basically why bother, HA is just for automation but HA already seems to have come so far that it feels like it is / could be possible to interact with everything else in the market of smart homes. Interesting about nest, will check that out.
Sadly I have no skills in programming / coding but do love to go deep into projects so already thinking about what could be possible
I was being sarcastic. The /s at the end of my post is Internet shorthand for sarcasm.
If I may turn things around, it was difficult to tell if you were being sarcastic. You’re comparing an expensive, high-end, commercial product, handled by licensed installers, to a free, community-run DIY project. Effectively you asked when will something free be like something costing big bucks. Short answer, as soon as dozens of people volunteer their time and effort to do it.
Home Assistant is very capable but requires a significant investment of one’s time. Control4 is very capable but requires a significant investment of one’s money (because you pay someone else to install and configure it … that’s Control4’s modus operandi).
Internet shorthand for sarcasm! You learn something everyday.
No insult or sarcasm was intended on my part, i was merely wondering whether it was possible for HA to come close to other “installed” options. Jsternadels post was useful, good to know that Control4 “only” has money and dedicated teams on their side and it’s not probably the case they have special access to Sonos etc.
Completely agree HA is a time investment, it’s a hobby as well as a function.
Would be great to see any other examples of people using HA as a home control application rather than home automation application
Last time I tried control 4 at a friend’s home I was very underwhelmed. Nothing was intuitive. Admittedly that was probably 9 or so years ago, and it may have improved.
Even if it has improved markedly, I would prefer an open system that I can understand and hack, even if the GUI might not be as flash.
After using Control 4, AMX and Crestron I believe HA surpasses these mostly due to huge price difference and flexibility.
UI wise.i believe you can match these since web is completely configurable and docs are not pay to play. Basically you can Google how modify frontend but that’s not even needed with Lovelace and many HA and 3rd party add one.
If you have ability to program any of those systems I am certain you can do magic with HA
EDIT
HA has no hardware which would be minus technically. But “works with Crestron/AMX” products have api as well as most ptoducts and hardware they sale. For home it is HA hands down. For SOHO and commercial I think I would still use it given large budget.due to less vendor lock-in, reduced vendor support and long turn flexibility
And their story on Instagram about os.v3 makes Control4 look pretty good but yes understand there are heavy costs to that.
Thanks for the links about UI though.
In terms of distinction @123 I mean from my limited understanding and new to HA viewpoint it has automation at its core, I can set lights to turn on and off under conditions, I can set Sonos to turn on and off, or lock doors, turn up thermostat while Control4 seems (again from limited experience) to join up other services better, ie Control4 can be used to choose a tv input and then change channel on your sky box or select a specific film from a library to watch.
Again, and this was part of my question, do people think these sort of interactions will become possible in HA? Is it part of HA’s aims, does it just rely on people wanting these features and people with the skill to create them or do services like Control4 have a hardware or software advantage/usp that means they can change channels on a sky box, browse a media gallery and select tv sources or is it just they have the budget / people and objective of doing that with their product?
HA can do these things. My AV receiver automatically turns on and off as required as well as switching inputs based on what I do. ie: If I turn the TV on the AV receiver gets turned on and set to the correct input. If I play music through a particular Chromecast Audio, then the AV receiver switches on and to the appropriate input for that. If either the TV or music is turned off, so done the AV receiver. There are also conditions to prevent one automation messing with another, so if the TV gets turned on and the music stopped, the AV receiver switches to the input for the TV but doesn’t get turned off by the music stopped automation.
What HA can do is mostly only limited by your hardware and your imagination.
What exactly are we supposed to see there? I see a montage of neat wiring bundles, distant views of wall-mounted TVs, smiling employees, samples of simple UI’s, group shots of smiling employees, etc.
Honestly, Control4 and Home Assistant serve the same purpose and achieve the same things. Control4 is for people who have more money than time and interest in researching, connecting, programming, sourcing, and installing a home automation system (which includes the automation of an AV system). Home Assistant is for DIYers.
Cheers Dave. I’d seen awesome home assistant but the other link is new to me and thanks for the info on your av receiver! Sounds a good setup. Appreciate you taking the time.
Note that in an open project, the answer to “will a feature be implemented” is usually “sure, if and when someone cares enough to donate the man-hours.” (Unless there is a good architectural reason the feature should not be implemented.)
