Home Assistant 2026.9 improves Modbus integrations, and a better activity history

Home Assistant 2026.9 is here. Maps suffer an unexpected turn of events and easier Modbus integrations arrive. Activity history gets some love. Nabu Casa subscribers can start testing a new and improved speech to text provider via Labs.

Watch this episode on YouTube

Show notes for this episode are available at https://homeassistant.fm/HA248

Support the Podcast

Get early-access to episodes and an ad-free feed by supporting our Patreon.

https://homeassistant.fm/patreon

Share your story

We wouldn't be able to do this podcast without community members and home automation enthusiasts sharing their stories. To register your interest to come share your home automation journey, head over to homeassistant.fm and click share your story.

Chapters

00:00:00 Intro

00:01:46 Home Assistant map outage

00:05:57 Community Day, Apollo and iOS

00:10:19 Mailbag: locks, pools and moving

00:18:13 AI assistants versus closed ecosystems

00:23:43 Proxmox upgrade compatibility warning

00:29:04 Home Assistant Cloud and Modbus

00:35:04 Dashboard updates

00:38:12 History, accessibility and Matter maps

00:43:39 New integrations and release wrap-up

This episode was made possible thanks to our sponsors

Home Assistant Cloud by Nabu Casa

Easily connect to Google and Amazon voice assistants for a small monthly fee that also supports the Home Assistant project. Sign up for your free trial in your Home Assistant system: https://my.home-assistant.io/redirect/cloud/ or visit https://nabucasa.com

Zooz

If you're looking to upgrade your smart home - you can’t go past Zooz! Zooz offers a range of affordable and innovative devices, including water leak sensors, water valve controllers, smart plugs and scene controllers.

For the best prices on all Zooz products, head over to https://thesmartesthouse.com

Apollo Automation

Apollo Automation are the makers of open source smart home sensors built for the Home Assistant ecosystem. They're an official Open Home Foundation commercial partner and their devices are built with local control, privacy, and reliability in mind, giving you full control and flexibility right out of the box.

Want Phil to help with your smart home?

You’ve heard him troubleshoot Home Assistant on the podcast. Now you can book him to troubleshoot yours. From broken automations and confusing YAML to dashboards, devices, and complete smart home setups: https://smarthomecto.com

Products Discussed

Apollo Automation ESPHome Starter Kit: https://esphome.io/starter-kit/

Apollo Automation Cast 1: https://apolloautomation.com/products/cast-1-audio-casting-device

Home Assistant Connect ZWA2 (Z‑Wave radio): https://amzn.to/3MfPzsP

Products we Recommend

Hosts

Phil Hawthorne

Website

Twitter: @philhawthorne

Bluesky: @philhawthorne.com

Buy Phil a Coffee

Rohan Karamandi

Website

Twitter: @rohank9

Buy Rohan a Coffee

This episode contains Amazon affiliate links. If you click on one of them and make a purchase, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy