Home Assistant has more integrations than you could imagine. Some of them can be really useful, while others are less so. I tested five different media integrations for Home Assistant, and while all of them were useful, only three really hit the spot.
Very useful if you already run Plex
He Plex Media Server Integration in Home Assistant can be a useful tool if you already have a Plex media server set up. You can connect the integration to your Plex server to expose key information and some useful tools.
An activity sensor shows a count of users currently streaming from the server, and you can click to get details about the users and what they’re watching. You can also enable sensors that display the item count for each library along with the number of shows and seasons. You can use this information in several ways, such as receiving an alert when new content is added to a library.
The integration also creates media player entities for each connected client. You can use them to control playback on compatible devices, display currently playing media, and view playback progress.
While all of this is useful, Plex is slowly becoming more like the streaming services it was meant to replace, with key features like remote transmission and hardware transcoding locked behind subscriptions. However, if you’re already totally into Plex, integrating Plex Media Server can make the experience even better.
- Compatibility
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Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, iOS and various other devices
- Free trial period
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Free account available
A Plex Pass subscription takes your media server to the next level, with remote streaming, hardware transcoding, offline downloads, and more.
Jellyfish
A less polished option for all-local media
While Plex is looking more and more like one of the bad guys, Jellyfish is exactly aligned with the principles of Home Assistant. Is free and open sourceand you don’t need to pay a subscription to use features like hardware transcoding. Most importantly, it means you can run everything completely locally.
It also means you don’t have to worry about authentication issues. With Plex, you may run into problems if Plex authentication is not working or is unstable.
The problem is that the Jellyfin integration It’s just not as polished as the Plex Media Server integration. Was simple enough to set upbut it is supposed to expose the state of each Jellyfin client as well as the playback controls. I found that the Jellyfin app on my iPhone kept showing up as unavailable even when playing media, and when it was available, the media player entity didn’t include any controls.
It can still be a useful integration if you want additional tools for your Jellyfin server, but it may not always work as you would expect.
Sonos
Much better than the official application.
I have Sonos speakers and I had to live through the chaos that was the 2024 Sonos App Update. Sonos had one of the most disastrous software releases in recent memory, in an attempt to update its app to be compatible with the Sonos Ace headphones. The update was missing essential features, had serious performance issues, and it took months for the app to revert to the original version.
Fortunately, Home Assistant Sonos Integration has no such problems. Beyond the obvious playback controls, you get deeper controls such as volume, crossfade, and even voice enhancement for sound bars. It means you can control your speakers without having to touch the official Sonos app.
There are also some really cool additional features, like the ability to slightly attenuate the audio when you use your Sonos speaker to play a spoken ad, without having to stop the music and then restart it. If you have Sonos speakers, it’s definitely The Sonos integration is worth installing..
8/10
- Battery life
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30 hours
- microphones
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8 microphones
- Connection type
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Wireless, 3.5 to USB-C, USB-C to USB-C
- Weight
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0.69 lb (312.97 g)
Maximize your immersion with lossless streaming, spatial audio with dynamic head tracking, and premium active noise cancellation. Hear what’s happening around you with Aware mode. Enjoy up to 30 hours of battery life, exceptional convenience, and impeccably clear calls. Connect to your devices wirelessly via Bluetooth or use the included USB-C and 3.5mm cables.
Great until it breaks (which happens frequently)
Honestly, I find it very useful Alexa media player integration. The problem is that it has also given me hours of headaches. Not all of this is the fault of integration; Echo speakers are proprietary devices that Amazon guards quite closely, and it’s impressive that Alexa Media Player can do any of the things it does.
The problem is that you can’t rely on a feature to be available from one update to the next. I used to be able to use it to expose data from my Amazon air quality monitor and it suddenly stopped working. Subsequent updates often bring back features, but you can never be sure if a feature will be kept or not. I’m done jailbreak my Echo Show devices to expose them as media players for Music Assistant.
music assistant
A perfect way to combine musical sources
Which takes us smoothly to the final integration. Technically, music assistant It’s both a plugin and an integration (and even more technically, plugins are now called apps). The plugin is the engine that does the heavy lifting and the integration is the bridge that connects Music Assistant to Home Assistant.
Regardless of the structure, Music Assistant is amazing. One of the things I like the most is that it allows me to play music from a variety of sources. I have my Apple Music account connected, but I also connected my local music files and you can add other sources like Spotify, Tidal, and more.
It means I can create a playlist that includes music from Apple Music, music from Spotify, and music from my own collection, and the playlist will play as if all the music came from the same source.
You can also add a wide range of players, from Sonos and Bluesound speakers to broader ecosystems. like AirPlay and Snapcast speakers. I could even connect an old mini hifi using DLNA.
If you’re looking to control music playback in your smart home, Music Assistant is definitely worth a look. It’s an integration I use almost every day.
Your mileage may vary
Only three of the integrations I tested did everything I wanted, but that doesn’t mean the others aren’t worth using. If you don’t use Plex, the Plex Media Server integration won’t be of any use to you, while the Jellyfin integration might be. Ultimately, all of these integrations exist thanks to the hard work of other Home Assistant users and I am enormously grateful to those people for creating them.
