Entertainment Automation Guide: Whole-Home Media Control with Home Assistant

1. Why Automate Your Entertainment?

The average household has 3-5 streaming devices, 2-3 speaker systems, and a drawer full of remotes that only half the family knows how to use. Entertainment automation puts all of that into one interface, whether it is your phone, a wall-mounted tablet, or your voice.

The real value is in multi-device control. Instead of manually dimming the lights, turning on the projector, switching the receiver input, and adjusting the Sonos surround, you press one button and your "Movie Night" scene handles everything simultaneously. That is the difference between a collection of smart devices and an automated entertainment system.

Common benefits include one-button movie and music scenes, voice commands to play music in any room, automated volume management based on time of day, activity-based scenes that coordinate lighting and media, and whole-home announcements through your existing speakers.

Important: This guide covers software-level automation of media devices you already own or plan to buy. It is not about home theater wiring, speaker installation, or AV rack building. For dedicated audio hardware recommendations, see the Whole-Home Audio Guide.

2. Supported Media Players

Home Assistant supports virtually every major streaming platform and media device. Integration quality varies, so here is a candid breakdown of each.

Apple TV

Excellent Home Assistant integration via a native API. You get full remote control, app launching, media position tracking, artwork display, and power management. Apple TV also works as a Thread border router and HomeKit hub, so it pulls double duty beyond streaming. Best for users already in the Apple ecosystem.

Roku

Good integration with basic remote commands, app switching, and power control. Roku devices are affordable and widely available, making them a solid choice for budget setups or secondary TVs. The HA integration exposes current app, playback state, and remote commands.

Chromecast / Google TV

Decent integration through the Cast protocol. You can cast media, control volume, and track playback state. Google TV adds app launching capabilities. Less control than Apple TV, but the Cast protocol is open, so most third-party apps and services work with it.

Amazon Fire TV

Community integration via Android Debug Bridge (ADB). Requires enabling developer mode on the Fire TV device. Once configured, you get app launching, remote commands, and playback control. Functional but less polished than native integrations, and ADB connections can occasionally drop and need re-pairing.

NVIDIA Shield

Excellent integration via the Android TV platform. The Shield is the go-to device for Plex users thanks to its powerful hardware and direct-play capability. Home Assistant can control playback, launch apps, and monitor media state. The Shield also supports game streaming, making it a versatile entertainment hub.

Plex

Native Home Assistant integration that tracks what is playing across all your Plex clients. You can control playback, see media metadata (title, artwork, progress), and trigger automations based on media state. For example: when Plex starts playing on the living room TV, dim the lights automatically.

3. Multi-Room Audio with Home Assistant

Multi-room audio is the entertainment automation most people use daily. Play the same music throughout the house for a party, different audio in each room for individual preferences, or deliver announcements that reach every zone.

Sonos

The most popular multi-room audio platform, and it works well with Home Assistant. You can group and ungroup speakers, set per-room volumes, queue tracks, trigger playlists, and deliver TTS (text-to-speech) announcements. Sonos speakers discover each other over your local network and create their own mesh for audio synchronization. For a complete walkthrough, see the Sonos + Home Assistant Guide.

Apple AirPlay

Use HomePods and AirPlay 2 speakers as media player entities in Home Assistant. Through the HomeKit Controller integration, HA can discover and control AirPlay 2 speakers including HomePod, HomePod Mini, and third-party AirPlay receivers. Grouping is managed through the Apple ecosystem, but volume and playback can be controlled from HA.

Chromecast Audio Groups

Cast-enabled speakers (Google Home, Nest Audio, JBL Link, and others) can be grouped for synchronized playback. Home Assistant's Cast integration lets you target individual speakers or speaker groups. This is a cost-effective multi-room solution, especially if you already own Google/Nest speakers.

Audio Zones

The real power of multi-room audio in Home Assistant is zone management. Your kitchen plays a morning news podcast while the living room streams jazz and the garage blasts a workout playlist. HA automations can manage these zones based on presence detection (who is in which room), time of day, or activity. When everyone gathers in the living room for movie night, a single automation can stop all other zones and route audio through the surround system.

4. Media Player Automations

Automations are where entertainment control gets interesting. Here are six practical automations you can build in Home Assistant, described in plain language. Each can be implemented through the HA automation editor without writing YAML.

Movie Night

When you press a dashboard button or say "movie time": all lights dim to 10%, motorized shades close, the projector or TV turns on, the streaming app launches, and the Sonos surround system sets to 5 dB below your normal listening level. One action replaces five manual steps across four different apps and remotes.

Morning Music

At 7:00 AM on weekdays, if someone is home (based on presence detection), start your preferred playlist on the kitchen Sonos speaker at 30% volume. On weekends, delay the trigger to 9:00 AM. If nobody is home, the automation does not fire, saving energy and avoiding an empty house playing music to itself.

Doorbell Pause

When the doorbell rings, all active media players pause automatically. A TTS announcement plays on every speaker: "Someone is at the front door." After 30 seconds, if you have not interacted with the door camera or lock, playback resumes where it left off. You never miss a delivery or a visitor because the TV was too loud.

Bedtime Wind-Down

At 10:00 PM, the living room TV volume gradually decreases over 10 minutes. Living room lights shift from cool white to warm 2700K. When the TV volume reaches zero, it turns off. Simultaneously, the bedroom speaker starts a sleep sounds playlist at 15% volume, and bedroom lights dim to 5%. A gentle transition from evening entertainment to restful sleep.

Away Mode

When the last person leaves the house (detected via phone GPS, door sensors, or a combination), all media players pause, all TVs and speakers power off, and the system switches to an away state. No more leaving a TV running all day because you forgot to turn it off on your way out the door.

Party Mode

One button press: all Sonos speakers join the same group, a party playlist starts, lights switch to a colorful scene with slow transitions, and the volume adjusts based on time of day (louder before 9 PM, quieter after). When the party ends, a "wind down" button ungrouped the speakers, returns lights to normal, and gradually lowers the volume.

5. Voice Control for Entertainment

Voice assistants sit on top of Home Assistant and let you trigger automations by talking. Each platform has its strengths for entertainment control.

Amazon Alexa

"Alexa, play jazz in the kitchen." Works through the Home Assistant Cloud integration or manual skill setup. Alexa can trigger HA scenes and scripts, so complex multi-device actions like Movie Night can be activated with a single voice command. Alexa also supports multi-room music natively with Echo speakers.

Google Assistant

"Hey Google, pause the living room TV." Works via Home Assistant Cloud or the manual Google Assistant integration. Google's Cast ecosystem means tight integration with Chromecast devices. Google routines can trigger HA scenes for coordinated entertainment and lighting control.

Apple Siri

"Hey Siri, movie time." Works through the HomeKit integration in Home Assistant. Siri can activate HA scenes exposed to HomeKit, which means your complex multi-device automations are accessible from any Apple device. Siri Shortcuts can also trigger HA webhooks for even more flexibility.

Voice control is the front end, but Home Assistant automations do the heavy lifting behind the scenes. When you say "movie time," your voice assistant simply triggers an HA scene that coordinates the projector, lights, shades, audio, and streaming device all at once. The voice assistant does not need to understand each step. It just flips the switch.

6. Projector and Home Theater Integration

Note: Leios does not perform theater wiring or AV rack installation. This section covers software-level control of projectors and AV receivers through Home Assistant, automating the devices you already have or plan to install.

Projector Control

Many projectors support RS-232 serial, IP control, or IR commands through Home Assistant. Common capabilities include power on/off, input switching, picture mode selection, and lamp hour tracking. Epson, BenQ, and Sony projectors with network connectivity can be controlled directly via IP. For projectors with only IR input, a Broadlink RM4 or similar IR blaster bridges the gap.

AV Receivers

Denon, Marantz, Yamaha, and Sony AV receivers all have Home Assistant integrations. You can switch inputs, set volume to a specific level, change sound modes (stereo, surround, Atmos), and monitor what source is active. This matters for Movie Night automations: the receiver needs to switch to the correct HDMI input and set the right sound profile automatically.

Motorized Screens

Motorized projection screens can be controlled through Home Assistant via smart relays, RF bridges, or native integrations depending on the screen manufacturer. A relay-controlled screen responds to simple open/close commands from HA and fits right into your entertainment scenes.

The Complete Movie Night (Revisited)

With projector integration, the Movie Night automation covers the full setup. One button press triggers the sequence: motorized screen drops, projector powers on and warms up, AV receiver switches to HDMI 1 and sets Dolby Atmos mode, Sonos surround speakers activate, all room lights dim to 5%, and the streaming app launches on your media player. When you say "lights up" or press the end button, everything reverses: screen retracts, projector enters cool-down, lights come back up, and normal audio routing resumes.

7. Building a Media Dashboard

A good Lovelace dashboard turns any tablet or phone into a media remote. Here is what to include in a dedicated entertainment dashboard.

Essential Dashboard Elements

• Media player cardsOne for each device (Apple TV, Sonos, projector). Shows current state, artwork, and playback controls.
• Volume slidersPer-room volume control so you can adjust the kitchen speaker from the couch without opening a separate app.
• Scene buttonsLarge, tappable buttons for Movie Night, Party Mode, Background Music, and other entertainment scenes.
• Now Playing displayA prominent card showing what is currently playing, complete with album art, track info, and progress.
• Favorite shortcutsQuick-access buttons for your most-used playlists, streaming apps, and TV channels.

Wall-Mounted Tablet as a Media Remote

For dedicated media control, mount a tablet (an older iPad or a Fire HD tablet running Fully Kiosk Browser) on the wall near your entertainment area. Configure it to display your media dashboard full-screen. This gives every family member and guest an easy way to control the entertainment system without downloading apps or learning remotes. The tablet stays charged via a flush-mount USB outlet behind the mount.