Summary
The latest release of Home Assistant, version 2025.5, has introduced exciting features and crucial enhancements aimed at improving user experience for self-hosting enthusiasts. From significant backup improvements to expanded text-to-speech options, this release offers numerous updates that make Home Assistant even more powerful for home automation.
Home Assistant 2025.5: Enhancements for Self-Hosting Enthusiasts 🎉
Celebrating Milestones
In recent events, we celebrated a remarkable milestone: over 2,000,000 active installations of Home Assistant globally! This significant achievement was highlighted during our State of the Open Home event, where we also unveiled our future roadmap. To keep the momentum, we invite you to join Home Assistant Community Day on May 24, 2025, with over 50 meetups worldwide!
Key Features in Home Assistant 2025.5
Improved Backup System
One of the main highlights of this release is the continuous evolution of the backup system.
Per Location Backup Retention Policy: Now you can define a retention policy for backups based on their storage locations. For instance, retain more backups on your local NAS while keeping fewer on cloud services like Google Drive.
Backup Before Upgrading: A new option allows you to create a backup before starting any upgrade process, ensuring peace of mind.
Default Behavior for Upgrades: Users can now set preferences for automatic backups during upgrades, tailoring the experience to their needs.
- Backup Completion Before Restart: If a backup is in progress, your Home Assistant will wait for it to finish before initiating a restart, avoiding any potential mishaps.
Text-to-Speech Options
For users subscribed to Home Assistant Cloud, this version offers an extensive range of text-to-speech voice variants. New styles such as “friendly,” “angry,” “sad,” and more can now be utilized to tailor the tone of your announcements.
Z-Wave Long Range Support
The latest update includes major enhancements to the Z-Wave integration, especially with support for Long Range communication. This feature significantly improves device connectivity over large distances, beneficial for setups requiring remote sensors like contact sensors on gates.
Enhanced User Interface Features
Improvements have also been made to the user interface for easier navigation:
Entity Picker Enhancements: The entity picker now displays additional contextual information, making it simpler to identify devices.
- Paste YAML Directly: You can now paste YAML snippets directly into the UI, streamlining the process of integrating automations or scripts from the community.
Noteworthy Integrations
With every release, we welcome new integrations to amplify the Home Assistant experience:
AWS S3: Use Amazon S3 as a backup location for your Home Assistant backups.
- Miele Appliances: Easily monitor your Miele home appliances right from Home Assistant.
Conclusion
Home Assistant 2025.5 brings valuable enhancements and new features, making it an even more robust platform for self-hosting enthusiasts. With improved backups, expanded voice options, and Z-Wave enhancements, users can enjoy a more personalized and efficient home automation experience.
FAQ
Q1: How do I set a backup retention policy?
You can set a backup retention policy directly in the backup settings page of your Home Assistant configuration.
Q2: What are the new voice styles in Home Assistant Cloud?
Home Assistant Cloud subscribers can now access various voice styles like “happy,” “sad,” “angry,” and more to customize announcements.
Q3: How do I monitor my Z-Wave devices?
Z-Wave devices can be monitored directly through the Home Assistant interface, and with new Long Range support, you can connect devices that are situated far apart.