Home Assistant Companion App: Getting the Most From Your Phone

Most people install the Home Assistant Companion App, use it to check a camera feed or toggle a light, and never explore further. That is like buying a Swiss Army knife and only using the toothpick. The app is one of the most powerful integrations in the entire Home Assistant ecosystem, and most of its best features are buried in settings menus.

Here is everything the app can do and how to actually use it.

Location Tracking That Actually Works

The Companion App provides the most reliable location tracking for Home Assistant. It creates a device_tracker entity that shows your GPS coordinates, and more importantly, your home/away zone status. This is the foundation of presence-based automations.

To set it up properly:

• Enable location access "Always" in your phone settings. "While using" is not enough, the app needs background location to report when you leave or arrive.
• Disable battery optimization for the HA app. Both Android and iOS aggressively kill background apps. On Android, go to Settings, Battery, and whitelist the app. On iOS, enable Background App Refresh.
• Configure zones in HA. Define your home zone with an appropriate radius (50-100 meters works for most). Add zones for work, gym, or other frequent locations. The app reports zone entry and exit events.

Actionable Notifications

This is the feature most people miss entirely. The Companion App does not just receive notifications, it can display action buttons on the notification itself. You tap a button directly from the notification without opening the app or even unlocking your phone.

Example: your automation detects the garage door has been open for 10 minutes. Instead of a plain "Garage door is open" notification, you send one with two action buttons: "Close Door" and "Leave Open." You tap "Close Door" from your lock screen and the garage closes. No app opening, no dashboard navigating.

The implementation uses the notify.mobile_app_your_phone service with an actions parameter. Each action gets an identifier that fires an event in Home Assistant when tapped. You create a separate automation that listens for that event and performs the action.

Practical notification actions worth setting up:

• Garage door open too long: Close / Leave Open
• Someone at the front door (with camera snapshot): Unlock / Ignore
• Washing machine finished: Remind in 15 min / Dismiss
• Alarm triggered while away: Disarm / Call Police (opens phone app)
• Morning routine: Start Coffee / Skip

Phone Sensors You Did Not Know About

Your phone is packed with sensors, and the Companion App can send their data to Home Assistant. Go to the app settings, then Companion App, then Manage Sensors to see the full list. The most useful ones:

The "Next Alarm" sensor is particularly powerful. It reports the exact time of your next phone alarm. Create an automation that triggers 30 minutes before that time to start your morning routine, adjust the thermostat, start the coffee maker, gradually increase bedroom lighting. Your wake-up experience adapts automatically when you set your alarm differently on weekends.

Widgets and Quick Actions

Both iOS and Android support Home Assistant widgets on your home screen. These provide one-tap control without opening the app. On iOS, you also get Control Center integrations (iOS 18+) and Shortcuts support for Siri commands.

Set up widgets for your most common actions: toggle lights, open the garage, check a camera, arm the alarm. These become muscle memory and are faster than any voice command or app interaction.