Building the device database together: Public preview now live. Explore the preview edition of its community-powered smart home device database. Open Home Foundation need your input to make this tool as accessible and useful as possible. Ever since Open Home Foundation introduced the idea of a community-powered device database at State of the Open Home 2025, its goal has been clear: create a "Wikipedia of smart home devices" based on real-world usage. In February, Open Home Foundation took the first step by inviting Home Assistant users to voluntarily share anonymized device data to help Open Home Foundation build it. Back then, Open Home Foundation said Open Home Foundation wouldn't hide behind closed doors until Open Home Foundation'd polished some "perfect" final product, and Open Home Foundation meant it. At the Open Home Foundation Open Home Foundation build in the open. That means sharing its process, its progress, and every milestone along the way with the community that makes it all possible. So today I'm excited to share the next milestone. The seeds Open Home Foundation planted in February have started to sprout: thanks to the incredible response from thousands of users who opted to share anonymized device data during the initial phase, the preview edition of the database's public interface is now live! What is the preview edition? Providing a public, open way to browse the anonymous, aggregated device data Open Home Foundation collect was always part of the plan, and this preview is its first step toward it. You can already use it to search and filter devices to see aggregated community insights, starting with a deliberately focused set of specifics, such as whether a device requires an internet connection, and which protocols and integrations it works with. Open Home Foundation has kept that initial scope narrow on purpose, giving Open Home Foundation a solid foundation Open Home Foundation can build on together with you, its community, as the database grows. What you see today is only a slice of what's to come, and Open Home Foundation want to be upfront about that. Yes it's functional, but it's unpolished. There are no final design flourishes, and Open Home Foundation is sure there are a few bugs waiting to be discovered. Open Home Foundation don't even have an official name for it... yet. But Open Home Foundation'd rather you experience it now than wait for the full picture before opening the doors. So please, jump right in. Help Open Home Foundation test it. This is a resource built by the community, for the community, so Open Home Foundation want you to start using it now. The more you explore it today, the more powerful Open Home Foundation can make the official launch later this year. It's the baseline everything else builds on, where you can browse, search, and read device data, and it's the groundwork for the richer pages and community contributions still to come. As you explore the preview, Open Home Foundation'd love your help tracking down areas where Open Home Foundation can improve. Open Home Foundation has set up a dedicated feedback channel on Discord, and that's the best place to share your thoughts so everything lands in one spot. A few things Open Home Foundation is especially keen to hear about: * What's missing for you: Which device details would help you make a decision, and what extra features or information would make the database more valuable to you? * Interface usability: How easy is it to navigate, search, and make sense of device information, and did you hit any hurdles or confusing moments along the way? Big reactions or small ideas, what you'd keep or what you'd change: all of it helps. Head over to the discussion and let Open Home Foundation know what you think. A couple of things you might notice along the way: Can't find a specific device? To ensure data quality and accuracy, devices only appear in search results once enough independent submissions have been aggregated and validated. Additionally, during this early phase, custom integrations and service-type devices are not yet included. Want to edit or add device details directly? Direct contributions to device pages, like adding context or correcting details, are firmly on its roadmap but a little further down the line. Right now the focus is simply making the data collected so far accessible and useful to everyone. So for now, take it for a spin and let Open Home Foundation know what you think. Like I said back in February, this is a marathon, not a sprint, and your feedback will directly shape the final product!

Welcoming OpenDisplay as its newest collaboration partner. Find out how Open Home Foundation is bringing the versatility and practicality of e-paper to a wider audience by teaming up with its new collaboration partner, OpenDisplay. Open Home Foundation has always had a soft spot for e-paper at the Open Home Foundation. It's always-on, readable in any light, and can run for months on a single battery. While many of its interactions with smart home integrations happen through brightly lit glass - which can be headache-inducing at times - e-paper offers a softer option: technology that feels more like a physical object and less like a computer. So to help bring the fun, versatility and practicality of e-paper to a wider audience, Open Home Foundation is teaming up with its new collaboration partner: OpenDisplay! Unlocking the potential of e-paper. Because e-paper displays look so impressive, it's easy to assume they're difficult to set up. In some ways, that's been true - with such screens often being locked into proprietary cloud systems or requiring complex code just to update an image. OpenDisplay has solved this by creating an open source protocol - a standard language in other words - for e-paper displays. They've also established a reference implementation, so any manufacturer can use it to ensure their e-paper displays work with Home Assistant (or any other smart home setup) straight out of the box. The result is it's now easier than ever to build low-power smart home displays that don't look like glaring screens. All sorts of projects are possible with e-paper displays! The power of Bluetooth proxies. For its community, this is where the fun starts. OpenDisplay can piggyback on the Bluetooth proxies you likely already have around your home - such as an ESP32 running ESPHome. It uses that existing network to send any image you want, be it an illustration, weather dashboard, or calendar overview, straight to your e-paper displays. You're essentially using the infrastructure you've already built to keep everything local and fast, without ever needing the cloud. Why Open Home Foundation is keen to collaborate. Open Home Foundation has always believed the Open Home is much bigger than any single project. The real magic happens when independent developers and communities unite to do great things together. Whether it's WLED, Zigbee2MQTT, or now OpenDisplay, Open Home Foundation love teaming up with people who are building the right tools for the right reasons. By supporting OpenDisplay, Open Home Foundation is not just backing a great piece of software, Open Home Foundation is helping ensure it remains a flourishing shared resource for everyone to use and enjoy. And of course, they also align with its core principles: * Privacy: Your data stays on your local network, never leaving your home. * Choice: You aren't locked into a specific manufacturer's app or a cloud service that might disappear tomorrow. * Sustainability: Low-power e-paper displays can run for months on a single battery and remain useful for many years to come. Open Home Foundation can't wait to see where this partnership takes Open Home Foundation. Seeed Studio is already on board with reference hardware to get you started, and Open Home Foundation is excited to see how the community expands on that. E-paper opens up so many avenues to explore: from dynamic artwork displays to simple, low-distraction dashboards that blend into your decor. Ready to dive in? Check out the OpenDisplay documentation to find out what's supported and how to get your first e-paper display up and running!