Home Assistant 2026.3: Vacuuming rooms, and the sky is dark again
Home Assistant Podcast
Dark Sky returns as Acme Weather
Rohan and Phil discuss Acme Weather from the original Dark Sky team, its features and potential for an API.
Breaking down Home Assistant 2026.3: map vacuum rooms to Areas for voice control, set HA as your default Android assistant with wake word support, SendSpin multi-room updates, Python 3.14 performance gains, and new integrations for Ghost, Proxmox, SwitchBot AI Art Frame, Trane HVAC, and NYC MTA.
Mailbag: NFC dash buttons, Aqara FP300 presence tips, bed sensors, and listener automations for pets and babies.
Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA224
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Chapters
00:00:00 - Intro
00:02:40 - News: Partners, Event, Merch
00:03:54 - Dark Sky Returns: Acme Weather
00:08:02 - Mailbag: AI, Accessibility, Pets
00:12:56 - Gear Talk: Aqara, NFC, Bed Sensors
00:19:09 - 2026.3 Release Overview
00:21:56 - Vacuum Room-to-Area Mapping
00:27:42 - App & Voice: Python, Dashboards, Assist
00:32:15 - SendSpin Sync & Visuals
00:36:30 - Matter, Docker, AI, Energy
00:41:30 - Devices & Integration Highlights
00:44:24 - New Integrations Roundup
00:51:48 - Breaking Changes To Note
00:55:30 - Wrap-Up & What’s Next
This episode was made possible thanks to our sponsors
Home Assistant Cloud by Nabu Casa
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Products Discussed
HEIMAN smoke and CO alarms (Matter over Thread): https://amzn.to/4smRtrv
Open Home Foundation merch (hat, hoodie): https://store.openhomefoundation.org/
Neakasa M1 automatic litter box: https://amzn.to/3NdtiNd
Petlibro RFID pet feeders: https://amzn.to/4se0XFo
Owlet Dream Sock: https://amzn.to/4b0kHFI
Samsung Frame TV: https://amzn.to/3N40VAW
SwitchBot AI Art Frame (color e‑ink): https://amzn.to/4u0qLXr
Hosts
Phil Hawthorne
Twitter: @philhawthorne
Bluesky: @philhawthorne.com
Rohan Karamandi
Twitter: @rohank9
This episode contains Amazon affiliate links. If you click on one of them and make a purchase, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
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