App and remote access
The Home Assistant phone app, and controlling your home safely from outside the home network.
The phone app
The Home Assistant app is free on Google Play and the App Store. The first time it finds Home Assistant on your home network by itself, or you enter the address by hand, e.g. http://homeassistant.local:8123. Sign in with the same account as in the browser.
The app also reports the phone's data to Home Assistant, such as whether you are at home. That is what automations like "switch everything off when everyone has left" are built on. What the app sends is chosen in its settings.
Away from home
At home, the app connects to Home Assistant directly. Away from home it needs a safe way into the home network. There are two sensible ones:
- Home Assistant Cloud. A paid subscription from the makers of Home Assistant: access from outside without setting up your router, plus integration with Alexa and Google Assistant. Turn it on under Settings → Home Assistant Cloud.
- Your own VPN. Many routers have a VPN server (e.g. WireGuard). The phone then joins the home network and the app works as it does at home.
Do not expose Home Assistant or the boneIO panel to the internet by forwarding a port on your router. Anyone on the internet could then try to sign in to them. Use Home Assistant Cloud or a VPN.