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How to Control Any Smart Home Device on Android Auto Home Assistant?

How to Control Any Smart Home Device on Android Auto Home Assistant?

I usually forget to turn off the lights when I leave home. But when I am kilometers away, driving to work, I realize it. Now I can switch off the lights with a single voice command. You can also do this. But only if you have integrated a new initiative, as explained here on your Android Auto (AA).

  1. Setting Up Process
  1. Enable it on Android Auto
  1. Learn to Control
Problem: Android Auto does not allow controlling HK and Smart Life on the road natively.
Solution: But this integration will allow you to control them on your Android Auto smoothly.

Setting Up Home Assistant on Android Auto

Step 1: Install

  1. Go to the Google Play Store
  • Search for "homeassistant" in the search bar
  • Tap on "install"
  • Once installed, open it and log in
  1. Set Up

Next, you have to set up this integration on a Raspberry Pi, NAS, or Docker

  1. Set this up on a Raspberry Pi?

What you need:

  • A Raspberry Pi (preferably 3 B+ or 4)
  • A microSD card (16GB or higher)
  • HA image (downloadable from the HA website)
  • A keyboard, mouse, and monitor for the setup, or you can do it headless (without a monitor).
Image of Home Assistant Raspberry Pi Set Up

How to Set Up:

  • Download the HA OS image from their official website
  • Flash the image to your microSD card using a Belena Patcher
  • Install this microSD card into it
  • Connect to your HA instance by opening a web browser and navigating to http://homeassistant.local:8123.
  • Complete the initial setup by following the prompts in the web interface.

What you need:

  • A NAS (Network Attached Storage) or a Docker-supported device.
  • The HA Docker image (available on Docker Hub).

How to set up on NAS:

  • Install Docker on your NAS (most popular NAS systems support Docker).
  • Use the HA Docker image from the official HA documentation.
  • Run the Docker container with the command;

docker run --init -d --name
home-assistant --restart=unless-stopped -e
"TZ=YOUR_TIME_ZONE" -v /PATH_TO_YOUR_CONFIG:/config --
net=host homeassistant/home-assistant:stable

Step 2: Integrate SL (Tuya) on HA

  1. Install the Tuya integration on HA
  • Open HA
  • Go to the "Settings"
  • Go to the "Devices & Services"
  • Tap on "Integrations."
  • Search for "Tuya"
  • Tap on the "Tuya Smart Life" integration
  • Enter your account credentials & link your smart home devices or SL devices into HA
  1. Add SL to HA

After initiating these integrations, your Smart devices, such as smart lights, smart plugs, and thermostats, should automatically appear. So now you can control them with HA

Important: If they are still not showing up, try refreshing to see whether the issue is fixed.
  1. To control SL, ensure cloud access is enabled

If you need to control these smart home devices on Android Auto, enabling cloud storage is essential. If it is not enabled:

Go to the App > Go to app settings > Tap on allow them to be controlled to enable cloud storage

Step 3: Integrate HK with HA

You can use the HK Bridge integration to connect HA with Apple HomeKit.

  • Go to the "Settings"
  • Go to the "Devices & Services"
  • Tapon integrations
  • Search for "homekitbridge"
  • Tap on "configure"
  • Follow for instructions and do the needful
Important: Use an iPhone or iPad to scan the Apple Home App to complete the connection once you see a code.

Enable Android Auto Home Assistant

If you download Fermata Android Auto or Fermata Auto on your device, you can smooth up this process.

Step 1: Download Fermata Android Auto

  • Tap on:
Download Fermata Auto
  • Download the app by adding it to your home screen
  • Tap on Fermata Auto
  • Install the app by activating
Screenshot of Fermata Android Auto apk install guide

Step 2: Launch HA on AA

  • Open your Android device settings
  • Search for "Android Auto"
  • Open it
  • Find and head to the "Customize Launcher"
  • Launch HA if it has not automatically launched

How to Control Them Using Home Assistant on Android Auto?

Turn on/off devices

If you have followed the entire process up to this point, now you can control your devices with touch controls or via voice commands, even while in the car.

Control your Smart Home while driving

Imagine that you have forgotten to turn off your kitchen's light. You can simply give a command with your location while driving. So that it will turn off. Not only lights even can you track your CCTV cameras, and even smart locks until you arrive home smartly.

Use Voice Commands

By using Google Assistant, you can simply command it to "Turn off living room lights". This will help to save your electricity bill in advance.

Editor's Pick

I think my personal experience, extensive research, and experimentation will lead you to control any smart home device on Android Auto. HA is the only way you can control any smart home device via HK or Smart Life easily. Please be warned that third-party integrations can be risky. I hope this article gave you a little insight and an idea of what is the best solution for you is!

Troubleshooting Guide

I would like to share some important troubleshooting tips I faced during this setup process.

Do I need to control smart home devices in the car?

I forgot to switch off the lights when I left home to reach the office. Because of that, I searched whether there is a way we can get control of our car's dashboard.

Is HA compatible with Android Auto?

Of course, you can simply download HA via the Google Play Store. After that, it will launch automatically on AA. After that, with a trusted third-party tweak, you will turn to the new integration of controlling any smart home device within the car.

Is this bridge surely allowed to work with HomeKit?

If it doesn't allow, use an iPhone or iPad to scan the Apple Home App to complete the connection once you see a code.