Ohh so you don’t even spend 1 eur! Haha that’s insanely cool..
Thanks for the input man!
If I pay for an API key can I use all the models in the app?
Yes.
To be precise, the app has no restrictions and therefore allows you to use any Gemini model. Smart home management requires a series of system instructions (the instructions Gemini uses to learn how to use Homey), which are very cumbersome and require a lot of tokens. The free tier provides a few tokens for the more advanced models (Gemini 3) and a more generous number of tokens for older models (Gemini 2.5). So with the free tier, all Gemini 3 models consume all their tokens just by loading the system instructions, while with the Gemini 2.5 models (not the Pro), even after loading the system instructions, some tokens remain to send commands to the smart home.
I see, ”does it about Smart home management requires a series of system instructions” does it need to do that every time or is this something it have to do on every request on both free and paid API? Does it not have some kind off memory?
Hi,
Homey provides OTA firmware updates for battery-powered Matter devices without installing them automatically. I would like Gemini to check daily if such updates are available under the “Device Updates” section so I don’t have to do it myself. Is this possible, or will you implement this feature in a future version?
Ciao @Bernhard , this feature was recently introduced and isn’t yet documented in the Web API SDK. I checked, and it’s present in the code, so I’ll try to see if I can implement it. Keep in mind, however, that Homey doesn’t allow third-party apps to use all of its features. I might not have permissions to use device updates, but we’ll give it a try.
Hi Simone, thanks for your quick answer. This is a great app you’ve developed.
Ciao Daniel, the system instructions (and also the operating instructions for Homey tools used by Gemini) are cached. This way, they don’t have to be called for every message, with saving tokens (the cache also costs tokens, but much less).
With the free-tier APIs, however, it’s not possible to use the cache, which is why every request to the smart home previously returned an error. In the test version now online, I disabled the cache for the free APIs. This way, the app can also be used by the free-tier because it no longer returns an error, but without the cache, the system instructions are sent for every message, which consumes a lot of tokens.
This is why with the free-tier, only a few commands can be sent to the smart home each day.
@s_dimaio Thanks for the great explanation 
now I completely understand! 
Ciao @Bernhard , the good news is that firmware update management in the latest API version isn’t blocked to third-party developers, so I can implement both update control and initiation in Gemini. However, at the moment I’ve only found methods for launching updates on Matter devices, so the Zigbee and Z-Wave components likely haven’t been released yet.
I should be able to release a first test version with this feature this week.
The new version 3.2.0 of the app for managing advanced flows using Gemini (both from the flows themselves and from the widget) is currently being tested.
Gemini can now create new advanced flows, edit existing ones, and delete them.
A couple of tips if you want to test this new feature:
- always back up your flows, as Gemini may modify them, rendering them unusable, and it may not be able to restore them (in tests, it always restored them when it did, but it’s best not to risk it). In the next version, I will implement an automatic backup system, but manual backup is always recommended.
- for advanced flows, I recommend using a more advanced model like Gemini 3.5-Lite. The difference in creating and editing flows compared to the 3.1-flash-lite model (which I usually use with satisfaction for everyday smart home management) is notable.
You can also use my Flow Version History for saving older revisions of Flows
How can i do this ?
you can find the test version here
Okay buit hoe to build flows then ?
In the first post you’ll find some examples of how to use the action card to send commands to your smart home (for example, using Telegram or WhatsApp). Alternatively, you can use the app’s widget directly from the home screen.
It’s now in testing app version 3.2.1.
I added automatic flow backup whenever Gemini tries to edit or delete it. This way, Gemini can restore the initial flow in case of problems. The backup will be valid for a 2-hour session, meaning that whenever Gemini modifies a flow, it creates a backup that won’t be overwritten by any subsequent changes for the next 2 hours. If after 3 hours you ask Gemini to edit that flow again, the previous backup will be overwritten by the current version.
As mentioned, flow management with a more advanced Gemini model works much better…but it’s also more expensive.
For this reason, I modified the app settings to allow the user to choose a specific model just for flow management. This way, the more advanced model only consumes tokens when managing flows, while normal home automation management can be entrusted to a less powerful (and less expensive) model.
In my experience, the best combo is:
- Conversational AI model (used by the ‘send prompt’ and ‘send prompt with image’ flows): Gemini 2.5-flash-lite (works also with API Key free tier)
- Smart Home model: Gemini 3.1-flash-lite (works only with API Key with active billing)
- Flow management model: Gemini 3.5-flash (works only with API Key with active billing)
Please note that Gemini 3.5-flash costs 6x the price of Gemini 3.1-flash-lite and 22x the price of Gemini 2.5-flash-lite, so use with caution.
I forgot…@Bernhard the new version currently being tested also handles OTA updates, although for now only for Matter devices. Gemini is therefore able to see if there are devices that need updating and, if so, launch the update.
