Top story for Friday, October 9, 2026

ESPHome gives Sendspin speakers control over which music servers may play through them. Device makers can offer a fixed pairing code confirmed by a button press, or display a one-time code, and can turn off access for servers that have not paired. Unpaired access remains on by default.

Music Assistant tightens sign-ins through Home Assistant’s sidebar so another process on the host cannot impersonate a user by sending identity headers to the same address. Those headers are trusted only when the request comes through Supervisor’s proxy.

Russian speakers gain Assist phrases for more everyday tasks: searching for and playing media, muting and unmuting a player, changing volume relatively, setting fan speed and climate fan mode, and starting or docking a lawn mower. The additions also cover completing and removing list items, completing shopping-list items and spoken responses.

Home Assistant adds Copy, Cut, Paste above and Paste below to dashboard section menus. People arranging a long dashboard, particularly on a phone, can move a whole section without dragging it through the page.

Matter.js server and its Python client correct failures when devices are added to or removed from a bridge. An addition could reach Home Assistant before the corresponding device information, interrupting its Matter connection. Removing a device made of several parts could instead remove the bridge’s own entry.

Music Assistant preserves high-resolution audio from sources that do not report its format. Previously, it assumed 44.1 kHz and 16-bit audio before buffering, reducing a recording such as a 24-bit, 48 kHz FLAC to that lower format.

Sendspin’s Python server stops holding volume and mute commands behind audio waiting to fill a player’s buffer. With a large buffer, changes could arrive close to a minute late, with several adjustments taking effect together.

Home Assistant gives Peblar owners control of the settings behind Custom Solar charging. Automations can set how much surplus starts a charging session, the desired power exchange with the grid during charging, and whether charging begins immediately when the car is plugged in.

Home Assistant’s iPhone app adds optional readings for a folding phone’s hinge angle, hinge status and pose. Automations can distinguish a closed or fully open phone and use the angle between its halves.

ESPHome Web adds ready-made starter firmware for seven Beken, Lightning and Realtek chip types. Makers can prepare these boards for use without first compiling a device-specific file; the browser installer keeps an option for their own firmware too.