Best dashboard source

So I see there are different dashboard hosts/apps/whatever. The sharptools one looks great and so customisable but it seems it's got the trouble of Internet access. Are there others that are great and good for local control? Or is the best the hubitat one?
Thanks
Alan

The only other one I'm aware of as a dedicated daashboard-type solution HousePanel (threads both here and in the ST Community; it can work with either). This one must be set up on a local (or not) web server, as unlike Hubitat Dashboard it is not hosted by the hub and unlike SharpTools.io is not hosted by the vendor.

However, there are other things that are dashboard-ish. For example, the Alexa integration can get you a pseudo-dashboard in the Alexa app or on an Echo show--not much control over how it looks or what you see, and you can't access all types of devices by any means, but it's enough for remote monitoring or control for some people. Obviously, this is not a good solution for you if Internet access is a concern. HomeBridge used in combination with Hubitat (the two I'd currently recommend are the MakerAPI- or HubConnect-based HomeBridge apps for Hubitat) can also get you dashboard's via Apple's Home app, which will be local when home but can be accessed remotely if you have a HomeKit "hub" (iPad or Apple TV at home).

My preference is Hubitat dashboard because it's built in, local (or cloud or both), and not something I use often--my real preference is automating as much as I can so I don't have to. :slight_smile: I often also have HomeBridge set up for occasional voice control with Siri and another way to see things when away from home, but that's more for fun that frequent usage in my case.

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Thanks. I find the local dashboard extremely limited. It's either the tile they say or nothing pretty much. Even simple things like I want the one sensor (not all) to show green when open, not closed. Anyway, I'll have a look into my other options. Thanks for the the suggestions.

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Another option is Home Remote. It is local and able to be customized however you want it. It's the best of the dashboard apps I've seen, however, it is not a quick solution. It is not drag and drop like tile dashboards. It will take a significant amount of time to learn how to use. However, once you do figure it out you won't want to go back to tiles. I use it and the biggest downfall after getting it up and running is you'll never be done - there's always something new I'm coming up with, or a whole new layout I want to try.

I'm currently connecting it to HE with MQTT, but there is also this integration: Home Remote dashboard for Hubitat
If you have a significant number of devices you want on the dashboard (maybe over 50), the MQTT connection is better. But if you decide to give it a try, I'd start with the integration from that link to get an idea of how everything works.

If interested in the product, read that thread so that you can see some of the creations. Also, pay attention to the comments about the learning curve. I'm definitely not trying to turn anyone off from the program, but I'm also not interested in complaints about it's complexity! It can do almost anything you can think of, and that means it can be confusing. That said, the developer is very responsive and helpful - he has helped me considerably. I am also happy to help - PM me.

I forget, are you using Kevin's app for MQTT integration, or did you do something else?

I am using Kevin's App. It has been working great - haven't touched it in over a month. He has been fine tuning the discovery/importing of devices into HE from other systems, but as I'm not importing anything I haven't been much help to him lately.

Same here. I was waiting for beta 1 before I retire my old maker API + node-red to mqtt integration.

Might try to dive into home remote then too. Been playing with it this morning and it seems pretty useful.

There are so many things I would like to do that I simply can't do on HEs dashboards. And now that Patrick has left, I am not too optimistic that HE dashboard improvements are going to happen in a timely manner (or maybe at all).

I assume there is a mqtt plugin for home remote somewhere (haven't looked yet) since that is how you are doing it. (Edit: yup - Google Groups )

Yes - seems you found it. The developer just released a new version this week and I haven't had a chance to take a look yet so things may have changed. But the problem with the MQTT implementation, at least in the old version, is that you have to manually create an attribute, such as a color bulb's color temperature and then give it the subscribe and publish topics. No auto discovery like with other connections you can use. That's why I usually suggest starting with the other integration - it adds devices for you so there is one less step for someone just getting started. But since you already have MQTT up and running, I'd definitely use that.

I noticed the overhead in configuring the mqtt pub/sub manually. Pretty tedious, but might still be worth it to be able to get my dashboards the way I want them to be!