WTH can't you see what version of ESPHome is installed on devices from the ESPHome console?

AFAIK, you need to look in the log and see what is reported there.

you can create a version sensor in ESPHome and it will create the sensor in HA to display it.

text_sensor:
  - platform: version
    name: ESPHome Version
1 Like

Not sure how this helps with the question? This will creates a new sensor that you can see in several places, but not on the main esphome screen that shows all the devices.