Home Assistant 2026.3: Vacuuming rooms, and the sky is dark again

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.

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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

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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

Website

Smart Home Products

Twitter: @philhawthorne

Bluesky: @philhawthorne.com

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Rohan Karamandi

Website

Smart Home Products

Twitter: @rohank9

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