WTH - Dynamic Notification In Dashboard

Month of "What the heck?!"
1

We can have notifications on the mobile APP, TTS, Persistent, etc but why not in a dashboard that is very easy? Maybe just a card that is dynamic that you only see when you get a notification and then it become visible. You then can action it. So when running with fully kiosk you can see the notifications.

2

There is the persistent notification indicator in the sidebar, are you saying it is not visible enough?

3

I hide the sidebar and top bar on my android tablets. He mentioned fully kiosk so i guess OP has a similar setup.

4

Ah, yeah missed that detail.

5

Yeah, a few people have requested this and I can see it would be a nice feature. This way all HA users can customize their dashboards and have the look they would like. I not sure how HA would like to do it so I leave it up to them maybe even pop up for critical and then they can use it for so many things.

Fire Alarm / Smoke Detection
Water Leak
House Alarm
Washing machine finished
Front door bell - pop up maybe with camera image
Gates door bell - pop up maybe with camera image and action buttons to talk and open gates.

I think careful consideration from the HA team would be required on how this would be done but I think if they get the right road map it would really enhance HA.

Blacky :smiley:

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6

I will mention you can kind of do something like this already with the logbook card. It’s not obvious but you can pass it any kind of fake entityid that you want:

type: logbook
target:
  entity_id:
    - log.critical_messages

Then if you fire a logbook.log action:

action: logbook.log
data:
  entity_id: log.critical_messages
  name: Alert!
  message: Bad stuff is happening!

It will show up there:
image

7

Ive tried that myself but it gets messy and hard to read because we cant remove the “triggered by” bit. I wasnt aware of the log.critical_message the log book does get along way there, thanks for sharing that. Is it always critical or are there other levels?

8

That’s a completely arbitrary string, it means nothing other than I just made it up. You can call it whatever you want.

I think the icon comes from the domain though, so if you want to call it something like sensor.xxxxxxx it will have the eye icon, etc.

9

Yeah that makes more sense, than what i was thinking there thanks!

10

I was more thinking of having a new notification system where a notification card could be developed to enable users to tailor the content, layout, and behavior of the notifications to their preferences. While this is just an initial idea, it seems like a valuable feature that could improve user interaction and would benefit from further consideration and development.

Core Features

1. Dashboard Notification Actions

Introduce a new notify.dashboard_notification action with the following parameters:

  • Type: Defines how the notification is displayed:
    • dashboard: Sends the notification to a notification card in dashboards.
    • popup: Displays the notification as a pop-up across all dashboards.
  • Metadata: Allows additional styling or behaviour (e.g., priority, dismiss timeout).
  • Camera: Allows for a link to the camera.
  • Data: Includes the message content, icon/image, and action buttons.

Note the actions with icon and change of colour when it is ON.

Example Automation Action

action:
  - service: notify.dashboard_notification
    data:
      title: "Door Bell"
      message: "Someone is at the front door!"
      type: 
        - popup
      icon: mdi:door
      camera: "/your/camera/link/here"
      sound: "the_sound"
      actions:
        - action: "talk"
          icon: mdi:phone
          color_off: green
          color_on: red
        - action: "open_door"
          title: "Open Door"
        - action: "turn_on_porch_light"
          title: "Turn On Porch Light"

2. Notification Card

The new Notification Card would act as a container for dashboard notifications, featuring:

Visibility Options

  • Visible/Hidden Toggle: Option to always display the card or only when a notification is active.
  • Dismiss Button (“X”): Allows users to dismiss the notification directly from the card.

Custom Layouts

  • Support for customizable layouts, similar to existing HA cards, allowing users to arrange the notification content, buttons, and icons/images.

Action Buttons

  • Add action buttons dynamically from the automation or predefined in the card’s settings.

Integration with Automations

  • Allow linking specific automations to the card for enhanced customization (Only the automations linked can use this card). Each linked automation can define:
    • The notification style.
    • The action buttons and their behaviour.

Multiple Automation Handling:

  • If more than one automation is linked and multiple notifications come through, each notification would be displayed separately. The notifications would be displayed either stacked on the dashboard or in pop-up form, depending on user settings.

    • Stacked Notifications: Multiple notifications received at once would appear sequentially, each with its own actions and styling.

    • Dynamic Behavior: Notifications could be added or removed dynamically based on priority or automation link. If one notification is dismissed, others remain visible until manually dismissed or automatically timed out.

Icons/Images

  • Support for displaying an icon or an image as part of the notification:
    • Device icons for device-specific alerts.
    • Snapshots or live camera feeds for security notifications.

Camera Feed Option

  • Option to display a live or static camera feed in the notification, useful for alerts like “Motion Detected” or “Doorbell Ring.”

Sound

  • Play a sound or ringtone when a notification is received, configurable by type or priority.

Use Cases: Receive Notifications into a Dashboard

  1. Motion Alert with Camera Feed:
  • A motion sensor triggers a notification with a live camera feed and action buttons like “Dismiss” or “View Live Feed.”
  1. Smart Device Control:
  • Notify users that the washing machine has started and send a follow-up notification when it finishes.
  1. General Notification:
  • Notify users of low battery levels.
  1. Doorbell:
  • When the doorbell rings, display a pop-up notification with a live camera feed from the front door, along with action buttons like “Talk,” “Open Door,” or “Turn On Porch Light.” All actions remain accessible until the Dismiss Button (“X”) is pressed.

Benefits

  • Customization: Users can fully customize notifications, from content and appearance to behavior and actions.

  • Increased Engagement: Dynamic notifications ensure users are actively engaged with their setup, improving overall usability.

  • Enhanced Kiosk Experience: Ideal for kiosk mode, where users can view and interact with important notifications without missing any.

  • Unified Platform: Strengthens Home Assistant’s position as a comprehensive home automation hub, bringing more interactive features under one platform.

Anyway just an idea I had and would assume it would be changed form what I said above. Just a start of an idea and there could be a better way.

Blacky :smiley:

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