Home Assistant is open source home automation that puts local control and privacy first.
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Yeah Iโm skipping this one. I have curated and locked down mobile dashboards for certain users, and skipping them so replace with full access dashboards kinda defeats the purpose of me giving them limited access.
Iโm getting kinda tired of the assumption that all users should have equal access to controlling entities.
A proper permissions system for entities has long been one of my most desired features for Home Assistant. It should be possible to set visibility and control for each entity and user.
Trying to do control access via dashboards as always seems the wrong way around to me.
For me I've experimented with restricted cards. For example, I have essentially a collapsed menu of controls for my PC, accessible only when a switch is toggled on, and the card with the switch is only visible to me.
- type: conditional
conditions:
- condition: user
users:
- 9ecc550a1dc14e0a98071750a1673abc
card:
type: entities
entities:
- entity: switch.pc_admin_controls
toggle: true
- type: conditional
conditions:
- entity: switch.pc_admin_controls
state_not: "off"
card:
type: grid
columns: 4
(Ignore that I haven't fixed the yellow warning entities yet lol)
That's a good solution. What is your PC controls yaml if it isn't too private?
But sorry, did you mean the whole controls/sensors section?
Sorry, that would help wouldn't it aha
In templatesensors.yaml:
- switch:
unique_id: pc_admin_controls
name: Admin Controls
icon: mdi:shield-crown-outline
turn_on: []
turn_off: []
I made it a while ago. I believe it could also be made in helpers UI now, in Settings > Devices and Services > Helpers > Create Helper > Toggle, and setting a name and icon, and saving. It'll be input_boolean.switch_name and is functionally the same, as my conditional cards do the actions
I was just curious what functions you were running on the PC that you wanted to control via HA.
I used to use Has Agent, now I have LNXlink, which had quick buttons for lock, log out, ctrl-F4 and alt-F4, and power controls. I also have media player functions for watching stuff and controlling from the couch. I tried to share yaml but I think it bypassed a comment limit
Home Assistant is one of them that you think will do the simple task you want it to, but despite its large set of features, it misses the basic ones. The dashboard system is awful, it could be so simple.
What do you find awful about the dashboard? Is there another automation system that has a better implementation?
I find it clunky. There's a forced default dashboard for some reason. I cant limit control of devices/integrations for other users.
I havent tried any others, Home Assistant does the job and is well supported, its just lacking in some areas.
To conclude my other comment: I've decided to backup and downgrade to v2025.8.3 by entering the console and using:
core stop
login
rm /mnt/data/supervisor/homeassistant/home-assistant_v2.db
core update --version 2025.8.3
Having to delete the database meant losing sensor history but so many broken UI elements have been restored, and the dashboards and automation menus are back to being less cluttered.
I'm on 2025.12 and am considering rolling back to remove some features, mainly the added pointless dashboards. And I might be weird but I preferred when the automation page didn't spoonfeed you and give a popup with every tap. And my gauge cards are broken. Basically I agree, don't upgrade -_-
I think the restricted user dashboard thing was always screwed though, as some were specialised and didn't have support for user visibility. "Here's a wonderful home control system where we take away your control every few months"
Regarding the dashboards: I don't remember how to do it with the web view, but on mobile you can tap and hold the "Home Assistant" header in the sidebar and you can hide all dashboards you don't want.
I created a single custom dashboard and set it as the only visible one. It doesn't get touched by any update so far, even 2016.1
Ty ty. I was thinking more of having dashboards restricted for other users, like child users, by the admin rather than the child. That's a good idea, I see a few awesome all-in-one dashboards online
I'm not upset with anything proposed but I will say it's very offputting they rotate between putting the person's name first and the integration first when they list the improvements.
Just solidify the format. Back and forth is not easy at all to skim.
And more fucking shit in the left navbar that doesn't belong there, I'd imagine.
I recently set up Home Assistant for the first time and I was super confused about the todo list there. It is the most barebones implementation of a todo list I have ever seen, yet it's featured in the sidebar by default, like it's super important. And then scripts and automations are in the settings menu?
I could understand it if it was a proper todo list, with dates and priorities and repeating tasks and bonus points for a CalDAV Integration, but that one is downright pathetic.
Still love the fact that HA exists, I am super happy about not being locked into any particular ecosystem, but some choices are very confusing to me.
It's mainly useful as a shopping list, not much more
you'll use the Energy dashboard AND YOU'LL LIKE IT!