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The Home Assistant Companion app connects your phone to a Home Assistant server—not directly to each smart-home device. On your home network, it can discover the server; away from home, it needs a remote-access route configured for that server. Once connected, the phone can provide selected sensors and location information, and Home Assistant can send notifications back to it.
What the Companion app connects to
The app is a mobile client for your Home Assistant server. It displays your Home Assistant interface and exchanges information with that server. The server, in turn, communicates with the devices and services in your smart home. Installing the app does not itself connect devices or make your server reachable over the internet.
The documented minimums are iOS 16.4 or later, Android 6 or later, and Home Assistant 0.104.0 or later. These are the requirements in Home Assistant’s Getting Started documentation; check the current app-store listing for any newer phone requirements.
How to connect the app to your server
- Open the app and start connecting to a Home Assistant server. If your phone and server are on the same local network, the app searches for the server and may offer it automatically.
- Select the discovered server or enter its URL. Manual entry is useful if discovery does not find the server, or if you are connecting from somewhere else. Use the URL configured for your installation, such as a local address at home or a reachable external address when remote access is set up.
- Sign in with your Home Assistant credentials. The app authenticates to the server; it does not use a separate account for each smart-home device.
- Choose a device name and permissions. The name identifies the phone’s entities in Home Assistant. Grant only the permissions needed for features you intend to use; basic dashboard access does not require enabling every sensor or location feature.
- Enable notifications if you want alerts. Home Assistant can then send notifications to the registered phone through its mobile app notification integration. Follow the notification documentation for notification setup and supported options.
Home Assistant’s Getting Started guide covers onboarding and server discovery. If you cannot connect, first check that the phone can reach the server at the URL you entered and that the credentials are valid.
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What changes when you leave home
At home: local discovery and addresses
Automatic discovery works when the phone and server can see each other on the same local network. You can also use a local IP address or hostname. Discovery is a convenience, not a remote-access method: it will not make a server available when the phone is outside that network.
Away from home: the server needs a reachable route
Remote access must be configured on the Home Assistant side. The app needs a reachable external URL or a remote-access service; simply installing the app does not expose your home server to the internet. Home Assistant’s remote access documentation recommends Home Assistant Cloud as a secure option and describes other networking configurations, including using a public HTTPS hostname inside and outside the home or setting separate internal and external URLs. Cloud access can also be relevant for some connections behind carrier-grade NAT.
If remote access is not configured, the phone generally cannot reach the server when it is off the home network. A VPN is one possible network design, but it is not mandatory, and it must be configured correctly; it is not a substitute for an accessible server route.
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How the app chooses between internal and external URLs
When an installation has separate internal and external URLs, the app can choose between them based on network context. Home Assistant’s troubleshooting documentation explains that modern iOS and Android restrictions mean location permission may be needed to read the Wi-Fi network name (SSID) and identify whether the phone is on a configured home network.
This network-detection role is different from sharing the phone’s geographic location for presence automations. The app’s connection security settings can also restrict an unencrypted internal address to a selected home network. The exact detection options differ by operating system: Android supports treating VPN or Ethernet as the home network in supported configurations, while iOS uses Wi-Fi SSID for this security feature and does not identify physical home location through VPN in the same way. See Home Assistant’s sensor and connection documentation for platform-specific details.
HTTPS, local HTTP, and connection security
An HTTP connection is not encrypted. Home Assistant warns that credentials and commands sent over HTTP are transmitted in plain text, so someone able to observe that network traffic could read them. For remote use, configure HTTPS with a valid SSL certificate rather than exposing an HTTP address to the internet. Home Assistant’s connection security documentation recommends HTTPS, especially for remote connections.
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If your server uses HTTP only on the local network, the app offers security settings to limit when that address can be used. The “Most secure” option restricts the unencrypted URL to the configured home network and blocks access or background activity through that route elsewhere. The “Less secure” option permits the unencrypted URL on other networks; it is discouraged, particularly on public Wi-Fi. The option names and behavior are documented in Home Assistant’s connection security guidance.
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Why the app may ask for location permission
Location permission can serve two separate purposes, and you can make different choices about them:
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- Network selection and security: the operating system may require permission before the app can read the Wi-Fi SSID. That information can help the app choose an internal URL or apply a home-network security rule. This does not mean the app must share your geographic location for every function.
- Presence and location automations: if you enable location reporting, Home Assistant can use the phone’s location for automations. You can decline or revoke this permission; Home Assistant’s location documentation says no location data is sent when permission is denied or removed.
When location reporting is enabled, the data goes to your Home Assistant instance directly or through Home Assistant Cloud, depending on your configured URLs. Home Assistant says it is not sent through other servers or organizations. The app also has platform-specific sensor behavior; on Android, some non-location sensors can work without location permission.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What your phone adds to Home Assistant
After registration, the app can create a device_tracker entity for the phone and expose sensors such as battery state and network information. Some sensors may be disabled initially; review the Companion App settings to enable the ones you want. Home Assistant’s sensor documentation describes available sensors and platform differences.
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Notifications travel in the other direction: Home Assistant can send alerts to registered app devices, including actionable notifications where supported. Their availability and behavior depend on the phone platform and notification settings.
Choosing a connection setup
| Setup | When it works | Main trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Local discovery or local URL | When the phone can reach the server on the home network | Simple at home, but does not provide access away from home. |
| Configured HTTPS URL | When the server is reachable through its external address | Supports remote access with encrypted traffic; requires server-side networking and certificate configuration. |
| Home Assistant Cloud | When the server is configured to use the service | A managed remote-access route recommended by Home Assistant’s setup guide; availability depends on the service and account. |
| Local HTTP restricted to the home network | On a trusted home network when the app’s security setting permits it | Traffic remains unencrypted, so the route should not be used over public Wi-Fi or exposed as a public endpoint. |
The right setup depends on where you need access and how you want to provide it. For remote control, establish a server-side route and use HTTPS or the recommended managed option; for home-only use, local discovery or a local address may be sufficient.
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