Music controls
Controlling the music from a dashboard solves several problems. One is to see the album art, artist, and song name to know more information about the current song playing. This is a topic that comes up all the time, and being able to glance at the dashboard to see the information is super convenient.
If you’re like me, you have a few favorite stations or playlists that you play most of the time. Giving each of them a tile on the dashboard makes it easy to play any of them. The same goes with presets for volume like low, normal, and loud.
All these controls eliminate the need to yell at Alexa/Google/Siri repeatedly, which is often a cause of frustration.
Use cases
For the Household
- One-Tap Music - Start favorite playlists instantly
- Volume Control - Preset levels for different activities
- Now Playing - See what song is playing at a glance
- No Voice Needed - Control without speaking
For Parties
- Guest Friendly - Anyone can control music
- Party Playlists - Pre-configured party music
- Volume Presets - Easy adjustment for different phases
- Room Control - Group or ungroup speakers
Products needed
Essential Equipment
Dashboard elements for music
Now playing tile
- Album art display
- Artist and song name
- Play/pause button
- Skip forward/back
Favorite stations/playlists
- One tile per favorite
- Tap to instantly play
- Examples:
- “Dinner Music” playlist
- “Morning Energy” station
- “Kids Favorites”
- “Party Mix”
Volume presets
- “Low” (30%) - background music
- “Normal” (50%) - everyday listening
- “Loud” (70%) - party mode
- Eliminates “Alexa, set volume to…” commands
Room/Zone selection
- Quick switch between rooms
- Group rooms together
- Ungroup for individual control
Basic automation setup
Triggers
- Dashboard tile tapped (virtual switch turned on)
Actions
- Play specific playlist or station
- Set volume to preferred level
- Target specific speaker or group
Platform-specific examples
Home Assistant
SharpTools
SmartThings
Hubitat
Advanced features
Party dashboard
Create a special dashboard for parties and gatherings:
Include:
- Large now playing display
- Prominent volume controls
- Favorite party playlists
- Group speaker controls
Exclude:
- Home automation controls
- Security features
- Sensitive settings
- Anything confusing for guests
Volume automation
Automatically adjust volume based on context:
- Time-based: Lower volume after 10 PM
- Activity-based: Reduce during phone calls
- Mode-based: Louder during party mode
- Noise-based: Adjust based on ambient noise sensor
Multi-room audio
Control speaker groups from dashboard:
- All Speakers: Whole house audio
- Main Floor: Kitchen, living room, dining
- Upstairs: Bedrooms, office
- Outside: Patio, garage
Add tiles to quickly switch between groups or individual rooms.
DJ mode
Let guests participate:
- Create a shared playlist everyone can add to
- Display playlist queue on dashboard
- Allow skip voting (multiple taps to skip)
- Maintain backup playlist for when queue is empty
Troubleshooting
Issue: Now playing not updating
Solutions: ✅ Check speaker integration is properly configured ✅ Verify media_player entity is available ✅ Refresh dashboard connection ✅ Check speaker is on same network as hub
Issue: Playlist won’t start
Solutions: ✅ Verify music service is linked to speaker ✅ Check playlist still exists in music service ✅ Test playing from music app directly ✅ Re-link music service account
Issue: Volume too loud/quiet
Solutions: ✅ Calibrate volume presets to your preference ✅ Consider room acoustics ✅ Test at different times of day ✅ Add volume normalization if supported
Issue: Wrong speaker plays
Solutions: ✅ Verify correct speaker entity in automation ✅ Check speaker groups are configured correctly ✅ Ensure default speaker is set properly ✅ Specify speaker explicitly in each automation
Best practices
Dashboard layout
- Place music controls prominently
- Large tap targets for volume
- Now playing visible at a glance
- Favorite presets easily accessible
Family-friendly setup
- Include kid-friendly playlists
- Parental controls on explicit content
- Simple interface for all ages
- Guest-accessible controls
Performance tips
- Use local integrations when possible
- Minimize cloud dependencies
- Cache album art locally
- Test response time of controls
Related automations: