Since this wasn’t a review I didn’t talk about all the Stream Deck details. Yes it needs to be plugged into a computer for it to work. Any time I show it working in the video, it’s plugged in next to my computer. If you want something for around the house a dashboard (old tablet converted to a smart home display) would be a better fit. You could still take many of these ideas and apply it to a dashboard though. Shout out to Jean-Luc for emailing me about using a Stream Deck as a smart home dashboard! My desk will never be the same.
Bitfocus Companion extends what can be done with Stream Deck. Further, they have a Pi software package that allows the keyboard to be connected to a Pi instead of a PC. That free you to locate it away from your PC.
My Stream Deck has been connected to one of my computers for months with no tiles in use. You just turned on a lightbulb or twenty for me! I appreciate you sharing, this was needed and useful for me. You have a beautiful family!
One thing that can really speed up the workflow when using streamdeck, is to use multiple ones. Not just because that gives you access to more buttons, but you can actually use a button to change the profile of another streameck, and that is really useful when working with software as it allows you to quickly jump between sets of different type of tools. It of course also means that you can set it up to switch what home automation profile is shown, instead of having to page to the right page.
I would love to see you do a silent video meaning no words just ambient sounds and music of just you going through your day. It would be so neat to watch a montage of you interacting and using your smart house like you normally do.
I know this is 7 months old but maybe no one mentioned it already: I noticed you have some use cases where you use two buttons for similar things. One button to turn something on, and one button to turn it off. Or two buttons for your speakers. Streamdeck has good possibilities to combine then into one button which allows you to save button space and have even more automation on one page
Great video! I really enjoyed seeing how you're using the Stream Deck for home automation. I do something similar, but I have a couple of recommendations to share with you. First, adding a profile page that shows all your profiles would make it easier to navigate through them without having to switch manually on the desktop app. With one button, you can see all your profiles and easily select the one you need. Second, creating multiple pages per profile and having next and previous page buttons on the Stream Deck would allow you to quickly flip through the pages and gain unlimited button combinations. While you've already created three buttons - one for the home/profile button and two for right and left pages - having multiple pages would make it even easier to access every profile. Although you would lose the three buttons you currently have on each page, I still believe the benefits of having a streamlined way to access all your profiles and the flexibility to add more buttons with multiple pages per profile would be worth it. Thank you for sharing your setup, and I hope these suggestions are helpful!"
@@SmartHomeSolver I have it setup with a profile for when using Chrome, but also the default has a button to show the Chrome buttons (and the chrome one has a button to go back to default). Can be quite powerful and useful when alt-tabbing and having contextual aware buttons (and being able to override where needed)
I’ve been using one in my home ‘study’ for the last year. Mix of HomeKit functions and Mac functions. Pull up my Eve app with all cameras, open folder of various light colours, play/pause, shortcut to adjust clipboard, etc. plus the pages of buttons specific to other apps.
I've been using the Stream Deck to control my smart home for about a year and you're right, the biggest problem is the infinite capabilities! Thanks for some more ideas, Now I'll be busy again for at least the next week lol.
I've wanted to try a Streamdeck but had no idea what I'd do besides pull up my Teams video calls. I've also been wanting a dedicated smart screen to control my Sonos speakers. You finally connected the dots for me! Thank you!
The ability to open up a (long running) zoom meeting with a single press has been the best thing ever second only to having dedicated mute camera and mute microphone buttons. 🤣
One of the guiding principles that is winning a lot of points with my family is making the automations… automatic! So I have multiple “I’m busy” accent lights in the rooms adjacent to my home office. But they are triggered by my webcam being active. Yeah, I can trigger manually with a button. But then I need to remember to turn it off again. Having them turn on and off the instant I join or leave a meeting has been fantastic. I’m driving this through Home Assistant using the sensors provided by the companion app that runs on my MacBook.
That's very cool, i made a poor man's version by using a wireless keypad, some key caps and two free programs. Got around 35 dollars invested in it. Works very well. Not as fancy as the stream deck, but also not near as expensive either. But that looks very cool. Might have to save up my pennies for one.
Yes. It's basically a keyboard with OLED screens for keys and is meant to be used as a keyboard at computer, not as a take-anywhere-remote for HA. There are other solutions for that.
I've had a Stream Deck for a little while and bought it specifically for iOT control. I was pretty pleased with how mine is... or should I say WAS configured. You had some really GREAT integrations that I hadn't even considered. Thank you very kindly! There is today's rabbit hole. :)
I randomly got a “Razer” stream deck for excessive Apple Script/shortcut combos on Mac to Windows, and almost immediately started using it for HASS also. We have many similar automations, though I’m now adding the Spotify idea! Also your two up/down blinds buttons can be merged to one using icon templates and toggle service.
Well, this is extremely relevant, as my Stream Deck was just delivered today. I had no plans of using it to stream anything, but was intrigued by how I could use it when playing games and using smart home stuff.
7:04 - You can create an audible notification on an Echo device to inform you when your battery reaches a certain level. Not as big of a deal with a phone, but for something like a tablet that you may not be accessing every 20-30 minutes it could be helpful (esp if you have a number of tablets). I don't know about down in the valley, but up here in the mountains of Yavapai we get power outages all of the time. A notification to top off your devices if a storm is being forecast within a few hours could also be a helpful notification. (I guess I'm as lazy as you want automations to take care of much😆)
Is that only on the echo devices with screens or would an echo dot be capable of doing that too? I started using the Google device finder app to check on devices that are charging so I don't have to get up to check if they're done yet 😅
@@XSemperIdem5 Are you asking if you can do something similar to what Reed has done with a Steam Deck on an Echo Show? If so, I am unaware of a means to make that work. Part of the problem is that Echo Show devices can't have Home Assistant (or other apps) installed, so you can't create a dashboard specific for your Echo Show to work in the same way as Reed's Steam Deck. The closest you might be able to come would be through something like a Kindle, but it would almost certainly require greater programming effort to swap out icons (possible, but a serious pain). You'd probably be best off spending the $130 through Amazon to get a Steam Deck.
FYI for your blinds ip and down you can do a switch that does up and down. I forget what it’s called. But you could do one press up and long press down.
Great ideas, and I see myself adding some of them to my Stream Deck that I've been using for a while. Here's a couple of things that I use it for: Control my Sony Bravia (Android/Google TV) Smart TV, from turing the TV on and off, selecting inputs (or directly launching apps), Volume/Mute/Play/Pause - it's to the point I rarely have to pick up the remote. I normally bring up my security cameras on it while working, one button turns it on, launches the camera app and mutes the sound. Like your "quiet time" timer app, I have a LaMetric Time that is right next to my webcam for video conferencing. I have one button that turns on the appropriate lighting for the webcam and mutes the phone and my personal computer (which is the one Stream Deck is connected to, not the work computer being used for Video Conferencing), and additional buttons that start a countdown timer on the LaMetric Time (one for 30 minute calls and another for 60 minute calls), and another button that cancels the timer, turns of the webcam specific lighting off and unmutes everything muted previously. The timers help me (especially when they're my meetings) keep the calls on track and not run over.
@@bikerg6294 I use the Stream Deck integration with Home Assistant to send the commands via Home Assistant's Bravia integration. In fact, most everything I do with Stream Deck is via that integration with Home Assistant.
I love my stream deck. Never used it for streaming. I use it pull up my most used apps, organize apps I use for pacific purpose, and video games. Now you given me some other ideas on how to use it.
Reed 'Insane' workflow is the best description for your video , It's the best workflow i have seen , infact your video got me tinkering and i initiated my HA setup , - Have a pi3 b+ running HA - Have HACS installed - your icons are so beautiful But i am stuck at few things , might i request your complete walkthrough video for your setup and how to get everything running , you have a great eye for minimal and tactile workflow. i look forward to your videos. and would love to create the same eco system at my place. Thank you
I have my Stream Deck play a simple Sound Board effect of a Text-To-Speech Bot saying commands so my Alexa hears it. I came up with this myself but I like the home assistant idea better lol
That's cool stuff. I will use some of your ideas. I use my stream deck wirelessly with home assistant, by using a Companion software with raspberry pi zero 2w, pisugar and a small battery. Then you can even upgrade it with usb-C QI receiver pad and make it charged wirelessly too.
You neglected to mention that it's difficult to set up and you need to keep it plugged into a computer at all times. I'm sure it's useful for a very small subset of people that already use a Stream Deck, but for most people a tablet based dashboard is probably a better solution.
Agreed. I wish I read the comments earlier, because the way he was holding it in the video, it looked like it was wireless. I bought one due to this video, started setting it up, and then realized that it had no internal battery or Wi-Fi/Bluetooth connectivity.
There is a blueprint available for stream deck which mkaes it very easy, also I think that it is mostly used as a desk accessory, so when people sit in front of their computers to do work, it will already be running.
@@static_sid Agreed. This is example is not a smart home dashboard like a tablet. He is showing how to use this flexible tool to get some of that functionality, along with PC functionality, or whatever else, for when you are working at your desk. This is not meant to be a dashboard for having in your living room or mounting on the wall.
Cause he hid all those cables in the video and you weren’t able to figure out the purpose of the device before buying it … Lmao… It’s not his fault that you are not the brightest candle on the cake
I personally have a ring light that is plugged into a socket where I can turn on and off the USB ports through Home Assistant. I have HASS Agent installed on my PC, so if my camera turns on, it will turn on the USB port, so that my ring light turns on. As a backup, I have a button on my Stream Deck to turn it on and off. Amazing stuff.
I haven't bought one because I'm torn between the XL and the newer "+" model. I want a XL with knobs and a touch screen. Being able to turn lights and temp up/down with the knobs would be great. So then I look at the Loupedeck Live and I'm even more unsure which one I want.
It's a good product, but it could be much better if it had the ability to communicate with my smart home hub without needing to be connected to any computer. Maybe they are planning that for the next version of the product. Yes, I know you are thinking that some features won't work when it's not connected to a computer. But an app on the computer could communicate to the Stream Deck using some Smarthome Hub API, (either for Windows or Mac) and you should be able to get it to work with your computer wirelessly.
i use a stream deck mini because i love my old ibm model m keyboard. i just moved a few months ago, and now that its getting nicer out, i will be slowly setting up my smart home. i didnt even know that the stream deck could be used with home assistant. i can definitely use it
Fantastic setup, what you failed to mention is how it works & how difficult it was to setup all these automations. Does it work with SmartThings? Be nice to dive in deeper & show how you enabled these automations!
Thanks! It's easy to set up, especially if you check out some of the tips in the description. I don't think there is a good way to get it to work with SmartThings right now.
I just got one and am loving it. I would love to see how you set it up to show your CPU temp and how you connected it to your phone. Also, if you have a way to turn a smart tv on / off would be super cool. Thanks for the vid!
24 hours ago, I didn't know this existed. Now have one, and am using it to turn on/off my Hypercube nano (thanks Paul Hibbert) that is on my desk. Absolutely mental.
This is great, Reid. I'm pretty familiar with the Stream Deck as a tool for video streamers, but I hadn't really considered its usefulness as a home automation hub. I may just have to pick up one of these and give it a try. I do already have a Google Nest Hub on my desk, which allows me to control my lights and other smart home devices pretty easily, provided they integrate with Google Home. I'm wondering whether one might get a little creative with routines and mimic a lot of the same functionality you're talking about achieving with the Stream Deck.
If you ever end up doing LED projects using WLED software on an ESP32 for example (QuinLED Dig Series are amazing for this), there's a Stream Deck plugin that works with the HTTP/JSON API for WLED. You can also edit the config files of the plugin to add additional preset selections. At least when I set it up that's what I had to do.
I never thought about using the StreamDeck for other automated tasks, but I do have it set up to control my Hue lights in my office/studio. I have a single button that I press that turns the lights off and then shuts down my computer. I have another button configured to stop my automatic backup service and restart the computer. These are basically the two non-streaming related automation tasks that I have configured.
Awesome video. I'm not a smarthome person, but I am interested in StreamDeck. Appreciate your open minded approach & creativity. You missed one thing -- show me what is being streamed on my TV. HA HA
I've been using mine at work for the past 2 years for logging into devices. Opening apps. I even have a few profiles set up to type common phrases for me and it saves a ton of typing. Thinking of getting the new model for the icon switching and other new features since I can't update the software anymore for the old one. I also like that If I'm not logged into my station, or walk away and my station times out, nobody else can use it to get into secure devices because the stream deck profiles are stored under my Windows user profile only.
Damn it Reed! Bought another gadget now...man... Gonna install this stream deck in the dry wall and have it hooked up to my thin portable pc and monitor. Will be some sort of hybrid touch /clicky clicky all in one thingy a bob!
I'm a big fan of the Stream deck XL. It's great for managing everything from my desk climate, audio, admin panels without menu diving or using a voice assistant.
If you have a Mac the Home Assistant companion app is super powerful. I have automations for desk lighting when my computer is active, and if my external speakers (on my computer) start playing audio, HA will lower the volume on all rooms Sonos speakers as to not interfere and then put it back to the previous volume when system media stops playing. This all paired with the HA plugin for StreamDeck gives you desk automations super user privilege haha
Great video. Always love the funny parts at the end. The wife and I always get a good laugh. Btw regarding this product does it work well for Google home and smart things? I know you were doing a lot with HA for the video so curious your take Thanks
love this video! i own a streamdeck but did not know it can do this much! I really hope you can make a video guiding us the setup process because I do not know how to make it do the things you showed it the video. i would love to try it out and would really appreciate you for making that video! thank you so much!
I'm really liking my Stream Deck XL, so much so that I'm planning on buying several more of them. One is going to be a Stream Deck + for audio management; the others will probably be XLs.
Reed! First of all, you are a legend! I've got an idea for a video (that will selfishly also help me!) I just bought my first rental property. I want to set up a few small automated things with Alexa. But how do I do this for these things to work together in a house that isn't MY house (where all the rest of my smart home stuff is?) This might be a good series of content targeted at landlords, air bnb hosts, etc.?
I'm so glad I have similar buttons to you 🤣 I also added in my current Powerwall battery percentage and current house energy usage to go with the solar production. A great one I found was adding in a sensor with the total number of lights on, esp when my daughter manually turns a light on but doesn't turn it off.
I had wanted to get my own Stream Deck back when I had live streaming in my plans to reboot my TH-cam channel, but even though that fell to low priority, I had already found out about repurposing an old tablet to run Deckboard (and Home Assistant when my PC is off), and these ideas could work for that!
Very easy to set up. The only thing that took some time was getting stuck on some random little thing. I added notes to the description that should help you avoid that though. It's one of those things you could go from zero to a page full of stuff on the Stream Deck in 15 minutes. From there you could slowly add stuff.
Hi, I noticed that you mentioned in the video that for some reason, the kitchen is the last room that robot vacuum cleans. Well, it seems that you have roborock s7. I have it too. So I know that if you don't like the order the house is cleaned in, you can change it. It is in Edit map > Sequence > Manual edit.
Thanks for the suggestion! The strange thing is that I don’t have that feature in my app. I looked into it and it seems like anyone in America doesn’t have that option for some reason. Be glad you have that because I wish I had it!
I’ve almost given up on home automation. It’s like some fantasy candy land where when you get there it’s all sugary goop that just adds little nutrition to you. My lights often get reset and now don’t work. My neighborhood gets frequent brown outs. I love my Google homes. I have them thoughout my home. But yup every other month they give me the dreaded “I’m not setup yet! Please go to the Google home app..”. So ya i put the main one that’s in my kitchen on a ups. But all the rest get f’d up on a regular basis. Your video is great. You really seem to love this gadget (honey moon phase? Try and do a follow up video in 6mths?!). But i found 99% of your button actions trivial and not with the time to program (yes one time) to likelihood that I’ll never remember to use the button. Honourable attempt at making life easier but sadly i don’t think we’re there…until i have a personal assistant that actually takes commands and can execute them physically.
The Corne is far better than the Steam Deck. Split, ergo, 4 programmable layers. Assign any key on any layer to anything without having to move your hands from the keyboard. Far faster, also split, ergo, ortholinear. Regular keyboards are so 1896. Also, layer 2 can be num pad under right hand, arrows and home/end under left hand, layer 4 can be emojis, 3 can be brackets for coding and symbols. Next. Level.
You know on Apple devices there’s a thing called Focus Mode which is an extended Do Not Disturb like Work, Sleep, Personal. You can enable notifications for certain apps and people based on each focus. Different for each.
Thanks for this video! I'm curious if you figured out a way to present Powerwall battery % on the stream deck. I was able to get solar production and house load, but powerwall charge just doesn't seem to present on the deck.
Great video and heaps of good ideas. I am getting started using my Stream Deck and wondering how you are doing the Tesla solar readout on your stream deck? I can't seem to figure out how to show data on a stream deck icon. That would be useful cause I got heaps of things that would be useful to monitor using the stream deck. Thanks for the awesome video!
If you place 9 start/stop buttons in a square for spotify, they all make a big album cover in 3x3... but its only the first start/stop button , that works as a start/stop.. do maybe place it in the middle.
Gotta mention the free/cheaper even with pro version software alternative to this called Touch Portal. Allows you do make macro buttons the same way, and I have it on an old tablet and my smartwatch.
It has the cool factor but having a 12” tablet on your desk can give you tons of buttons and better view including live stream from your doorbell before opening doors
Without home assistant, it seems the streamdeck is very limited in support for smart devices. I've only been able to find IFTTT to work with my wifi-based smarthome devices, and that has a monthly fee to use more than 3 apps. Would love to see a video where you talk more about the technical side of setting up the streamdeck connections.
I've been using a Stream Deck for a few years, and can tell you that there is a number of options for Phillips Hue, Nanoleaf, Govee, Nest, Roku and others, so it is not exclusively Home Assistant and IFTTT (although Home Assistant opens up so much more). There's also actions that can trigger API's of devices, if you are inclined to go that route.
i bought a smart deck so that i could control my sound device and control my winamp/music player independently of whatever the active program was without needing an ugly keyboard with media keys. basically i wanted to change songs while playing counterstrike because switching back and forth from it makes it run like crap. and windowed mode runs like crap. i eventually started getting more smart home devices and added some of those routines to it too. fantastic little devices. might get the newer one with knobs on next. though i have the turnup for volume knobs already.... streamdeck just has so many more plugins though. i got the el gato pedals too, which are another very useful addition.
Utility would be good for something else like some kind of studio else if something can simply be done by soft buttons on phone, tab or may be nest screen as well.
I got a very small one hopping my old disabled mother could use it to deal with the lights because a stream deck is much better than having switches and has a lot of advantages compared to tablets (it’s stable, real and customisable buttons, the inclination is good, etc.), but it’s not possible. Unfortunately it has to be plugged to a running computer (if it’s on screensaver the stream deck is also on a sleep mode). I hope with this new way to use it, they will make it evolve (battery and wifi).
Most of that is but there lots of integrations available. One is Apple Shortcuts so you could do plenty of stuff with HomeKit. There are also API calls you can make so there are lots of options.
Love your videos, Reed! Always interesting and useful smart home ideas, but the family cameos at the end are the hilarious cherry on top! Your girls are adorable - please, can we get another glimpse of the baby?
Another great video Reed. Very informative and shows how versatile this unit is. I am already thinking I would love to have one of there by my TV chair so I could change mode depending on circumstances with the push of a button.I too would love to see the programing side of the unit. But if I can manage HA - this should be a piece of cake
Since this wasn’t a review I didn’t talk about all the Stream Deck details. Yes it needs to be plugged into a computer for it to work. Any time I show it working in the video, it’s plugged in next to my computer. If you want something for around the house a dashboard (old tablet converted to a smart home display) would be a better fit. You could still take many of these ideas and apply it to a dashboard though.
Shout out to Jean-Luc for emailing me about using a Stream Deck as a smart home dashboard! My desk will never be the same.
What is that cube on your desk. The black one with blue lights . 0:11
Bitfocus Companion extends what can be done with Stream Deck. Further, they have a Pi software package that allows the keyboard to be connected to a Pi instead of a PC. That free you to locate it away from your PC.
My Stream Deck has been connected to one of my computers for months with no tiles in use. You just turned on a lightbulb or twenty for me!
I appreciate you sharing, this was needed and useful for me. You have a beautiful family!
why did you even buy it?
@@tyzone i have lost of gadgets that i've bought sitting in boxes, one day i keep telling myself. It's a thing, especially for IT people.
One thing that can really speed up the workflow when using streamdeck, is to use multiple ones. Not just because that gives you access to more buttons, but you can actually use a button to change the profile of another streameck, and that is really useful when working with software as it allows you to quickly jump between sets of different type of tools. It of course also means that you can set it up to switch what home automation profile is shown, instead of having to page to the right page.
I would love to see you do a silent video meaning no words just ambient sounds and music of just you going through your day. It would be so neat to watch a montage of you interacting and using your smart house like you normally do.
Ohhh that's a great idea! I'll have to look into it!
I know this is 7 months old but maybe no one mentioned it already: I noticed you have some use cases where you use two buttons for similar things. One button to turn something on, and one button to turn it off. Or two buttons for your speakers. Streamdeck has good possibilities to combine then into one button which allows you to save button space and have even more automation on one page
Great video! I really enjoyed seeing how you're using the Stream Deck for home automation. I do something similar, but I have a couple of recommendations to share with you.
First, adding a profile page that shows all your profiles would make it easier to navigate through them without having to switch manually on the desktop app. With one button, you can see all your profiles and easily select the one you need.
Second, creating multiple pages per profile and having next and previous page buttons on the Stream Deck would allow you to quickly flip through the pages and gain unlimited button combinations. While you've already created three buttons - one for the home/profile button and two for right and left pages - having multiple pages would make it even easier to access every profile.
Although you would lose the three buttons you currently have on each page, I still believe the benefits of having a streamlined way to access all your profiles and the flexibility to add more buttons with multiple pages per profile would be worth it.
Thank you for sharing your setup, and I hope these suggestions are helpful!"
Those are great tips! I haven't spent much time fine tuning the pages so I'll have to try your recommendations out. Thanks!
@@SmartHomeSolver I have it setup with a profile for when using Chrome, but also the default has a button to show the Chrome buttons (and the chrome one has a button to go back to default). Can be quite powerful and useful when alt-tabbing and having contextual aware buttons (and being able to override where needed)
I’ve been using one in my home ‘study’ for the last year. Mix of HomeKit functions and Mac functions. Pull up my Eve app with all cameras, open folder of various light colours, play/pause, shortcut to adjust clipboard, etc. plus the pages of buttons specific to other apps.
I've been using the Stream Deck to control my smart home for about a year and you're right, the biggest problem is the infinite capabilities! Thanks for some more ideas, Now I'll be busy again for at least the next week lol.
I've wanted to try a Streamdeck but had no idea what I'd do besides pull up my Teams video calls. I've also been wanting a dedicated smart screen to control my Sonos speakers. You finally connected the dots for me! Thank you!
The ability to open up a (long running) zoom meeting with a single press has been the best thing ever second only to having dedicated mute camera and mute microphone buttons. 🤣
I just got the streamdeck+ and quicky realized I need more buttons :)
One of the guiding principles that is winning a lot of points with my family is making the automations… automatic! So I have multiple “I’m busy” accent lights in the rooms adjacent to my home office. But they are triggered by my webcam being active. Yeah, I can trigger manually with a button. But then I need to remember to turn it off again. Having them turn on and off the instant I join or leave a meeting has been fantastic. I’m driving this through Home Assistant using the sensors provided by the companion app that runs on my MacBook.
That's very cool, i made a poor man's version by using a wireless keypad, some key caps and two free programs. Got around 35 dollars invested in it. Works very well. Not as fancy as the stream deck, but also not near as expensive either. But that looks very cool. Might have to save up my pennies for one.
The problem is it's a USB device that needs to be connected to a computer at all times. If it had its own SoC and WiFI then we'd be talking.
Yes. It's basically a keyboard with OLED screens for keys and is meant to be used as a keyboard at computer, not as a take-anywhere-remote for HA. There are other solutions for that.
could it be paired up with a pi?
@@carsandtools what other solutions are there? 👀
@@hks-lion Wireless programmable keyboards, wireless MIDI controllers, apps for phones and tablets like TouchPortal, Macrodeck, Deckboard etc.
Use a mini PC or a thin client headless to have it standalone
I've had a Stream Deck for a little while and bought it specifically for iOT control. I was pretty pleased with how mine is... or should I say WAS configured. You had some really GREAT integrations that I hadn't even considered. Thank you very kindly! There is today's rabbit hole. :)
Ooooo the busy light, thank you for that!! Very helpful to have a visual cue to the family when I am on a call.
I randomly got a “Razer” stream deck for excessive Apple Script/shortcut combos on Mac to Windows, and almost immediately started using it for HASS also. We have many similar automations, though I’m now adding the Spotify idea! Also your two up/down blinds buttons can be merged to one using icon templates and toggle service.
Well, this is extremely relevant, as my Stream Deck was just delivered today. I had no plans of using it to stream anything, but was intrigued by how I could use it when playing games and using smart home stuff.
I use it mute my headset mic and also toggle between outputs (headphones & computer speakers)
7:04 - You can create an audible notification on an Echo device to inform you when your battery reaches a certain level. Not as big of a deal with a phone, but for something like a tablet that you may not be accessing every 20-30 minutes it could be helpful (esp if you have a number of tablets). I don't know about down in the valley, but up here in the mountains of Yavapai we get power outages all of the time. A notification to top off your devices if a storm is being forecast within a few hours could also be a helpful notification. (I guess I'm as lazy as you want automations to take care of much😆)
Is that only on the echo devices with screens or would an echo dot be capable of doing that too? I started using the Google device finder app to check on devices that are charging so I don't have to get up to check if they're done yet 😅
@@XSemperIdem5 Are you asking if you can do something similar to what Reed has done with a Steam Deck on an Echo Show? If so, I am unaware of a means to make that work. Part of the problem is that Echo Show devices can't have Home Assistant (or other apps) installed, so you can't create a dashboard specific for your Echo Show to work in the same way as Reed's Steam Deck.
The closest you might be able to come would be through something like a Kindle, but it would almost certainly require greater programming effort to swap out icons (possible, but a serious pain). You'd probably be best off spending the $130 through Amazon to get a Steam Deck.
I’d love to see an in depth video on how some of these are set up
FYI for your blinds ip and down you can do a switch that does up and down. I forget what it’s called. But you could do one press up and long press down.
Great ideas, and I see myself adding some of them to my Stream Deck that I've been using for a while. Here's a couple of things that I use it for:
Control my Sony Bravia (Android/Google TV) Smart TV, from turing the TV on and off, selecting inputs (or directly launching apps), Volume/Mute/Play/Pause - it's to the point I rarely have to pick up the remote. I normally bring up my security cameras on it while working, one button turns it on, launches the camera app and mutes the sound.
Like your "quiet time" timer app, I have a LaMetric Time that is right next to my webcam for video conferencing. I have one button that turns on the appropriate lighting for the webcam and mutes the phone and my personal computer (which is the one Stream Deck is connected to, not the work computer being used for Video Conferencing), and additional buttons that start a countdown timer on the LaMetric Time (one for 30 minute calls and another for 60 minute calls), and another button that cancels the timer, turns of the webcam specific lighting off and unmutes everything muted previously. The timers help me (especially when they're my meetings) keep the calls on track and not run over.
I have a Bravia and a stream deck, can I ask how you use it to control the Bravia?
@@bikerg6294 I use the Stream Deck integration with Home Assistant to send the commands via Home Assistant's Bravia integration. In fact, most everything I do with Stream Deck is via that integration with Home Assistant.
Awesome video. Would love to see one with detail on actually configuring the functions. Especially the garage door piece! Keep em comin!
I love my stream deck. Never used it for streaming. I use it pull up my most used apps, organize apps I use for pacific purpose, and video games. Now you given me some other ideas on how to use it.
Reed 'Insane' workflow is the best description for your video , It's the best workflow i have seen , infact your video got me tinkering and i initiated my HA setup ,
- Have a pi3 b+ running HA
- Have HACS installed
- your icons are so beautiful
But i am stuck at few things , might i request your complete walkthrough video for your setup and how to get everything running ,
you have a great eye for minimal and tactile workflow. i look forward to your videos.
and would love to create the same eco system at my place. Thank you
i saw this video 2 days ago and now i have one on my desk...... sooooo useful! Love it!
I have my Stream Deck play a simple Sound Board effect of a Text-To-Speech Bot saying commands so my Alexa hears it.
I came up with this myself but I like the home assistant idea better lol
Would love some details / info on how the heart button works???? BRILLIANT!
That's cool stuff. I will use some of your ideas. I use my stream deck wirelessly with home assistant, by using a Companion software with raspberry pi zero 2w, pisugar and a small battery. Then you can even upgrade it with usb-C QI receiver pad and make it charged wirelessly too.
You neglected to mention that it's difficult to set up and you need to keep it plugged into a computer at all times. I'm sure it's useful for a very small subset of people that already use a Stream Deck, but for most people a tablet based dashboard is probably a better solution.
Agreed. I wish I read the comments earlier, because the way he was holding it in the video, it looked like it was wireless. I bought one due to this video, started setting it up, and then realized that it had no internal battery or Wi-Fi/Bluetooth connectivity.
There is a blueprint available for stream deck which mkaes it very easy, also I think that it is mostly used as a desk accessory, so when people sit in front of their computers to do work, it will already be running.
@@static_sid Agreed. This is example is not a smart home dashboard like a tablet. He is showing how to use this flexible tool to get some of that functionality, along with PC functionality, or whatever else, for when you are working at your desk.
This is not meant to be a dashboard for having in your living room or mounting on the wall.
Thanks for that
Cause he hid all those cables in the video and you weren’t able to figure out the purpose of the device before buying it …
Lmao…
It’s not his fault that you are not the brightest candle on the cake
I personally have a ring light that is plugged into a socket where I can turn on and off the USB ports through Home Assistant. I have HASS Agent installed on my PC, so if my camera turns on, it will turn on the USB port, so that my ring light turns on. As a backup, I have a button on my Stream Deck to turn it on and off. Amazing stuff.
Great ideas, although I wouldn't be surprised if you end up wanting an XL. It's great being able to see as much as possible on one screen!
Thanks! Yes you're right, after realizing how much I can display I am wanting the XL version.
I haven't bought one because I'm torn between the XL and the newer "+" model. I want a XL with knobs and a touch screen. Being able to turn lights and temp up/down with the knobs would be great. So then I look at the Loupedeck Live and I'm even more unsure which one I want.
Woah! I never knew the stream deck is one awesome smart home gadget. I'm impressed 😄
It's a good product, but it could be much better if it had the ability to communicate with my smart home hub without needing to be connected to any computer. Maybe they are planning that for the next version of the product. Yes, I know you are thinking that some features won't work when it's not connected to a computer. But an app on the computer could communicate to the Stream Deck using some Smarthome Hub API, (either for Windows or Mac) and you should be able to get it to work with your computer wirelessly.
i use a stream deck mini because i love my old ibm model m keyboard. i just moved a few months ago, and now that its getting nicer out, i will be slowly setting up my smart home. i didnt even know that the stream deck could be used with home assistant. i can definitely use it
Tip for you @Smart Home Solver, put both your speakers into a Multi-Action button so you have 1 button that turns both of them on and off.
As always, awesome video! Just bought one through your link. Excited to try it out for Smart Home, FCP, and so much more
Thanks Ben! There are so many great FCP shortcuts I forget and this has really sped things up. Hope it works well for you!
Fantastic setup, what you failed to mention is how it works & how difficult it was to setup all these automations. Does it work with SmartThings? Be nice to dive in deeper & show how you enabled these automations!
Thanks! It's easy to set up, especially if you check out some of the tips in the description. I don't think there is a good way to get it to work with SmartThings right now.
I just got one and am loving it. I would love to see how you set it up to show your CPU temp and how you connected it to your phone. Also, if you have a way to turn a smart tv on / off would be super cool. Thanks for the vid!
Yeah I couldnt find anything would love to see the phones battery tutorial as well
24 hours ago, I didn't know this existed. Now have one, and am using it to turn on/off my Hypercube nano (thanks Paul Hibbert) that is on my desk. Absolutely mental.
This is great, Reid. I'm pretty familiar with the Stream Deck as a tool for video streamers, but I hadn't really considered its usefulness as a home automation hub. I may just have to pick up one of these and give it a try. I do already have a Google Nest Hub on my desk, which allows me to control my lights and other smart home devices pretty easily, provided they integrate with Google Home. I'm wondering whether one might get a little creative with routines and mimic a lot of the same functionality you're talking about achieving with the Stream Deck.
If you ever end up doing LED projects using WLED software on an ESP32 for example (QuinLED Dig Series are amazing for this), there's a Stream Deck plugin that works with the HTTP/JSON API for WLED. You can also edit the config files of the plugin to add additional preset selections. At least when I set it up that's what I had to do.
I never thought about using the StreamDeck for other automated tasks, but I do have it set up to control my Hue lights in my office/studio. I have a single button that I press that turns the lights off and then shuts down my computer. I have another button configured to stop my automatic backup service and restart the computer. These are basically the two non-streaming related automation tasks that I have configured.
Awesome video. I'm not a smarthome person, but I am interested in StreamDeck. Appreciate your open minded approach & creativity. You missed one thing -- show me what is being streamed on my TV. HA HA
Can you please give us a detailed video about how you set the stream desk because the steps that are mentioned in the link is confusing for me 😊😊
I would love to see a video where you give us a tutorial on how to set up your smart lights on your stream deck.
I've been using mine at work for the past 2 years for logging into devices. Opening apps. I even have a few profiles set up to type common phrases for me and it saves a ton of typing.
Thinking of getting the new model for the icon switching and other new features since I can't update the software anymore for the old one.
I also like that If I'm not logged into my station, or walk away and my station times out, nobody else can use it to get into secure devices because the stream deck profiles are stored under my Windows user profile only.
You might be the smartest man I know. And I don't know you. This is genius! Ordered mine!
Damn it Reed! Bought another gadget now...man...
Gonna install this stream deck in the dry wall and have it hooked up to my thin portable pc and monitor. Will be some sort of hybrid touch /clicky clicky all in one thingy a bob!
I'm just waiting for smart mirror
I'm a big fan of the Stream deck XL. It's great for managing everything from my desk climate, audio, admin panels without menu diving or using a voice assistant.
Any tutorials on these? Like the changing icons based on state and text messages?
If you have a Mac the Home Assistant companion app is super powerful. I have automations for desk lighting when my computer is active, and if my external speakers (on my computer) start playing audio, HA will lower the volume on all rooms Sonos speakers as to not interfere and then put it back to the previous volume when system media stops playing. This all paired with the HA plugin for StreamDeck gives you desk automations super user privilege haha
Great video. Always love the funny parts at the end. The wife and I always get a good laugh. Btw regarding this product does it work well for Google home and smart things? I know you were doing a lot with HA for the video so curious your take
Thanks
love this video! i own a streamdeck but did not know it can do this much! I really hope you can make a video guiding us the setup process because I do not know how to make it do the things you showed it the video. i would love to try it out and would really appreciate you for making that video! thank you so much!
This is great. I kept seeing that deck go on sale and was curious if it was really just for streamers. Thanks for the tips!
I'm really liking my Stream Deck XL, so much so that I'm planning on buying several more of them. One is going to be a Stream Deck + for audio management; the others will probably be XLs.
Reed! First of all, you are a legend! I've got an idea for a video (that will selfishly also help me!) I just bought my first rental property. I want to set up a few small automated things with Alexa. But how do I do this for these things to work together in a house that isn't MY house (where all the rest of my smart home stuff is?) This might be a good series of content targeted at landlords, air bnb hosts, etc.?
I'm so glad I have similar buttons to you 🤣 I also added in my current Powerwall battery percentage and current house energy usage to go with the solar production. A great one I found was adding in a sensor with the total number of lights on, esp when my daughter manually turns a light on but doesn't turn it off.
That's a good one with how many lights are on!
Ahah my wife will love the McDonald's button 🤣👌
I had wanted to get my own Stream Deck back when I had live streaming in my plans to reboot my TH-cam channel, but even though that fell to low priority, I had already found out about repurposing an old tablet to run Deckboard (and Home Assistant when my PC is off), and these ideas could work for that!
Nice. How difficult or time-consuming to set up?
asking the real questions
Very easy to set up. The only thing that took some time was getting stuck on some random little thing. I added notes to the description that should help you avoid that though. It's one of those things you could go from zero to a page full of stuff on the Stream Deck in 15 minutes. From there you could slowly add stuff.
USB over ethernet, plug that one in next to the bed or in the kitchen. Get yourself a StreamDeck XL for your desk!
Hey I didn't know you were making a video about this! Amazing work Reed!
Thanks Brent!
Love this! I will be looking at the stream Deck for my Smart Home! Keep up the great videos!
Hi,
I noticed that you mentioned in the video that for some reason, the kitchen is the last room that robot vacuum cleans. Well, it seems that you have roborock s7. I have it too. So I know that if you don't like the order the house is cleaned in, you can change it. It is in Edit map > Sequence > Manual edit.
Thanks for the suggestion! The strange thing is that I don’t have that feature in my app. I looked into it and it seems like anyone in America doesn’t have that option for some reason. Be glad you have that because I wish I had it!
I’ve almost given up on home automation. It’s like some fantasy candy land where when you get there it’s all sugary goop that just adds little nutrition to you. My lights often get reset and now don’t work. My neighborhood gets frequent brown outs. I love my Google homes. I have them thoughout my home. But yup every other month they give me the dreaded “I’m not setup yet! Please go to the Google home app..”. So ya i put the main one that’s in my kitchen on a ups. But all the rest get f’d up on a regular basis.
Your video is great. You really seem to love this gadget (honey moon phase? Try and do a follow up video in 6mths?!). But i found 99% of your button actions trivial and not with the time to program (yes one time) to likelihood that I’ll never remember to use the button. Honourable attempt at making life easier but sadly i don’t think we’re there…until i have a personal assistant that actually takes commands and can execute them physically.
3:10 You should use "multi action button" to toggle the power of both speakers at the same time
You could use it to Chek status on your ev. Set charge level instantly, precondition the temp and so on.
Those are great ideas!
That auto text is reason enough for me to get one. No lie.
I like how we go from voice control, to a device with tiny buttons
Also love the half-life shirt!
Great video! I need to setup my Stream Deck like this :)
Thank you for making this video. Been waiting for something like this (Dunno if it's been done before since I haven't searched for it yet) LOL
The Corne is far better than the Steam Deck. Split, ergo, 4 programmable layers. Assign any key on any layer to anything without having to move your hands from the keyboard. Far faster, also split, ergo, ortholinear. Regular keyboards are so 1896.
Also, layer 2 can be num pad under right hand, arrows and home/end under left hand, layer 4 can be emojis, 3 can be brackets for coding and symbols.
Next. Level.
This is cool, I need this in my life! Thanks for sharing.
You know on Apple devices there’s a thing called Focus Mode which is an extended Do Not Disturb like Work, Sleep, Personal. You can enable notifications for certain apps and people based on each focus. Different for each.
On iPhone you can make it change Lock Screen and Home Screen too (iOS 16) and Home Screen in iPad
Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s what he used.
Thanks for this video! I'm curious if you figured out a way to present Powerwall battery % on the stream deck. I was able to get solar production and house load, but powerwall charge just doesn't seem to present on the deck.
I found a solution - leave the Title blank, then enter '{{state}}{{ "%"}}' into the 'Enter custom button title' (that shows after you tick the box).
Wow thanks for not showing how to do any of this! Awesome!
Great video and heaps of good ideas. I am getting started using my Stream Deck and wondering how you are doing the Tesla solar readout on your stream deck? I can't seem to figure out how to show data on a stream deck icon. That would be useful cause I got heaps of things that would be useful to monitor using the stream deck. Thanks for the awesome video!
If you place 9 start/stop buttons in a square for spotify, they all make a big album cover in 3x3... but its only the first start/stop button , that works as a start/stop.. do maybe place it in the middle.
Great Video Reed!! Can you share the speaker model? They look great!
What plugin did you use to show the battery level of things?
Amazing video! i try and use for videos to create automations in my house thank you and keep up the great work Reed!
Digging the half life shirt bro
Thx for the video
Im surprised you dont have the shades set to a toggle
Gotta mention the free/cheaper even with pro version software alternative to this called Touch Portal. Allows you do make macro buttons the same way, and I have it on an old tablet and my smartwatch.
It has the cool factor but having a 12” tablet on your desk can give you tons of buttons and better view including live stream from your doorbell before opening doors
Awesome vid Reed! I really want one now !
Nice video and I have a stream deck also but you should show how do use and connect everything.
Without home assistant, it seems the streamdeck is very limited in support for smart devices. I've only been able to find IFTTT to work with my wifi-based smarthome devices, and that has a monthly fee to use more than 3 apps.
Would love to see a video where you talk more about the technical side of setting up the streamdeck connections.
I've been using a Stream Deck for a few years, and can tell you that there is a number of options for Phillips Hue, Nanoleaf, Govee, Nest, Roku and others, so it is not exclusively Home Assistant and IFTTT (although Home Assistant opens up so much more). There's also actions that can trigger API's of devices, if you are inclined to go that route.
These are great tips, but it would be cool if you showed the plugins etc that you used to set it up
i bought a smart deck so that i could control my sound device and control my winamp/music player independently of whatever the active program was without needing an ugly keyboard with media keys. basically i wanted to change songs while playing counterstrike because switching back and forth from it makes it run like crap. and windowed mode runs like crap. i eventually started getting more smart home devices and added some of those routines to it too. fantastic little devices. might get the newer one with knobs on next. though i have the turnup for volume knobs already.... streamdeck just has so many more plugins though. i got the el gato pedals too, which are another very useful addition.
awesome ideas, will definitely try some of these out!
Your video on the StreamDeck is fascinating. I would like to know the model and brand of your speaker stands... Thanks
Utility would be good for something else like some kind of studio else if something can simply be done by soft buttons on phone, tab or may be nest screen as well.
I got a very small one hopping my old disabled mother could use it to deal with the lights because a stream deck is much better than having switches and has a lot of advantages compared to tablets (it’s stable, real and customisable buttons, the inclination is good, etc.), but it’s not possible.
Unfortunately it has to be plugged to a running computer (if it’s on screensaver the stream deck is also on a sleep mode).
I hope with this new way to use it, they will make it evolve (battery and wifi).
Very cool setup... All driven through home assistant?
Most of that is but there lots of integrations available. One is Apple Shortcuts so you could do plenty of stuff with HomeKit. There are also API calls you can make so there are lots of options.
so cool, I love this smart home setup, that's super dope
Love your videos, Reed! Always interesting and useful smart home ideas, but the family cameos at the end are the hilarious cherry on top! Your girls are adorable - please, can we get another glimpse of the baby?
Another great video Reed. Very informative and shows how versatile this unit is. I am already thinking I would love to have one of there by my TV chair so I could change mode depending on circumstances with the push of a button.I too would love to see the programing side of the unit. But if I can manage HA - this should be a piece of cake
You need a PC to attach this to directly via USB and should have elgato software running and AFAIK, PC should no be in sleep
Can you do a video on how you do these smart automations with the streamdeck please