Home Assistant brings its next-generation voice preview into Labs with an integration that installs and connects the supporting Voice app. It checks for app updates at startup and removes the managed app when the preview is disabled.
Assist can use the app to check a satellite’s wake word and detect where a command ends, retaining its existing local processing when the app is unavailable. Related Voice Preview Edition firmware can send buffered wake-word audio when Home Assistant requests it; in that mode, it waits for acceptance before lowering music volume and omits the wake sound so the command can follow immediately.
The satellite connection does not yet request that buffered audio: a separate follow-up enables those requests. Michael Hansen’s end-to-end test included that follow-up and accepted real wake words while rejecting near misses. These changes do not automatically enable the preview for existing installations.