The Homey Podcast

Andreas Dantz of Spiel und Zeug, a German smart home YouTube channel with 417K subscribers, joins Abe on the Homey Podcast.

They talk about letting AI build the automations you’d never get around to, and whether a smart home still needs buttons.

00:00 Introduction

01:01 Testing the Aqara FP400 presence sensor

08:35 Building automations with AI

18:16 Schneider Electric’s bid for Shelly

23:13 Apple’s rumored smart home display

27:25 Does a smart home still need buttons?

33:38 Retiring the HomeKit experiment for Matter Bridge

41:10 German smart home platforms: FRITZ! and Homematic IP

50:44 Thread 1.4 and combining Thread networks

58:11 Where to find Andreas

Patrick Hunt’s YouTube channel, Make Smart Matter, isn’t just a name: his smart home runs on dozens of Thread Border Routers.He joins Abe to talk through his experience running that setup on Homey Self-Hosted Server, which has been smooth so far.On Matter as a whole, he’s largely positive, but just as clear about where the standard still falls short.

Homey Portal is our first product with a screen: a round 2.8-inch touchscreen wrapped in a stainless steel ring, for the desk or the wall.

In this episode, co-founder Emile and Abe go through it. Where the idea started, a live demo of what it does, right down to the sound design that shapes how it feels to use.

Abe from Homey talks with Eric Welander, who’s been documenting his smart home on YouTube since 2018, about the week’s biggest news: Google’s new smart speaker and SwitchBot’s parent company buying Nanoleaf.

They compare notes from the CSA (Connectivity Standards Alliance) event, then walk through Eric’s own smart home setup: how it’s built, what’s changed over the years, and where Homey fits into his daily routine.

Danny Oosterveer from De Groene Nerds joins Abe to dig into how a smart home becomes a full energy management system (EMS). They cover solar production, EV charging automation, dynamic energy pricing, and the automations that turn all of that into real savings on energy and money.

Danny co-hosts the Dutch podcast De Groene Nerds, where he covers sustainable living and smart energy for more than 25,000 engaged listeners. He’s also appeared on Dutch national news to explain dynamic energy pricing, the same topic he and Abe dig deeper into here.

Paul Hibbert and Shane Whatley join Abe for a wide-ranging conversation about smart home news, AI, Matter, and what a smart home should actually be. They also answer questions straight from the Homey Community.

Co-founder Emile joins Abe in episode 13 of The Homey Podcast. They cover a wave of new Homey features, share what they’ve been up to in their own smart homes, and tell the story of the failed attempt to make it to CES. Plus: a recent controversy, and answers to your questions.

Co-founder Emile joins Abe in episode 12 of The Homey Podcast to discuss Homey Self-Hosted Server, welcome new partners, and look back at everything that happened in 2025. They share behind-the-scenes insights, and look ahead to what’s next for Homey and the smart home world.

Co-founder Emile joins Abe to talk about new Homey features, including 15-Minute Electricity Pricing, Camera Streaming, and Local Users. In addition, they share what’s new in their own smart home setups and discuss the latest updates from Google and Amazon. Emile also couldn’t skip Aqara, who seem to have drawn some inspiration from Homey’s Advanced Flow editor…

Abe and Steven join us for this month’s Homey Podcast to share everything they’ve been up to in their smart homes. We dive into the latest smart home news, including Philips Hue leaks, Futurehome updates, and HomeKit developments.

Next, we take a deep dive into Vibe Coding: how Abe and Steven have been using it to build their Homey apps, the advantages it brings, what to watch out for, and where AI still needs to improve.

Finally, we showcase Dynamic Electricity Prices in Homey and explore how it can optimize your smart home energy setup.