# New to Homey. Missing features in Homey and non-working apps / integrations **URL:** \ **Category:** Questions & Help\ **Tags:** app\ **Created:** [September 12, 2026, 6:35am UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/new-to-homey-missing-features-in-homey-and-non-working-apps-integrations/159471 "2026-09-12T06:35:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bob\_Dabolina](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/bob_dabolina/32/173916_2.png) [@Bob\_Dabolina](https://community.homey.app/u/Bob_Dabolina)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2026, 6:35am UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/new-to-homey-missing-features-in-homey-and-non-working-apps-integrations/159471/1 "2026-09-12T06:35:29Z")
I am a long-term smart-home user. I started with Hubitat and subsequently tried SmartThings, Google Home and openHAB before moving to Home Assistant. Home Assistant can do almost everything I need, but after three years I am tired of YAML, workarounds and continual tinkering. I want something polished that my children can use and setup without needing to reverse-engineer the system whenever something changes. The system feels like a linux - deep, too deep for most users. I now have more than 120 devices across Tuya, TTLock, Zigbee, Z-Wave, Wi-Fi, Matter over Thread, Matter over Wi-Fi, iZone, Polestar, Meross, WiZ, Philips Hue and one or two I might have forgotten. The system needs a substantial overhaul, so I was genuinely pleased to see how far Homey appeared to have progressed. I decided to test it as a potential replacement for Home Assistant before undertaking the considerable job of migrating everything. My initial impression is mixed. I love Homey’s interface, simplicity and overall integration philosophy. Unfortunately, some very basic limitations appeared almost immediately. First, I installed the Reolink integration. The cameras connect successfully, motion and vehicle detection work, and live video works in the Homey Android app. However, the live feed does not work in the Homey web interface. I have tested current versions of Chrome, Edge and Brave. The cameras, network configuration and streams are demonstrably functional because they work in the Reolink app, Home Assistant and the Homey Android app. I also tested the H.264 RTSP substream through a virtual camera. The problem appears specific to Homey’s web video implementation. Is reliable Reolink live streaming in the web interface officially supported? If so, what is the correct configuration? If it is not reliably supported, why is such a fundamental feature still dependent on the client being used? The support page does little to explain this. Second, I attempted to create a Dashboard from my computer and discovered that native Homey Dashboards can only be created in the Android or iOS app. I created one on Android and then returned to the web interface, expecting it to be available there. It was not. Apparently, native Homey Dashboards cannot be viewed or edited through the desktop web interface at all. I find that design decision extraordinarily difficult to understand. Homey supports phones, tablets and watches and provides a desktop web interface, yet its dashboards are excluded from the platform with the greatest available screen space. I have a 43-inch computer display that is considerably better suited to configuring and displaying a comprehensive smart-home dashboard than a phone. Is native desktop/browser Dashboard support planned? Is there an official method of opening my existing Homey Dashboard on Windows that I have overlooked, rather than installing an unrelated third-party dashboard system? I appreciate that community developers provide many Homey integrations, but the overall experience is still presented and sold as one Homey platform. From a user’s perspective, the distinction between a platform limitation and an integration limitation matters less when a basic function simply does not work consistently. I have seen another new user receive a rather defensive response after expressing similar disappointment. I am not posting simply to criticise Homey or argue that Home Assistant is universally better. I genuinely wanted Homey to provide a more mature and family-friendly replacement, and I still want to understand whether my first experience is unrepresentative. For users operating larger and more varied installations: are these isolated limitations, or should I expect similar restrictions across many of my 120-plus devices and integrations? I would appreciate direct answers, particularly from anyone using Reolink cameras and Homey with a desktop computer. I would much rather discover that I have missed something than conclude that the platform cannot support my intended use. ---
**Author:** ![DaneedeKruyff](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/daneedekruyff/32/964_2.png) [@DaneedeKruyff](https://community.homey.app/u/DaneedeKruyff)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2026, 7:09am UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/new-to-homey-missing-features-in-homey-and-non-working-apps-integrations/159471/2 "2026-09-12T07:09:55Z")
Hello Mista Dobalina, Mista Bob Dobalina, Welcome to the forum, the best way to get answers to your questions would be to look up the topics for the apps you have questions about; here’s the one for Reolink for example: [[APP] Reolink](https://community.homey.app/t/app-reolink/151761) ---
**Author:** ![Koktail](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/koktail/32/51498_2.png) [@Koktail](https://community.homey.app/u/Koktail)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2026, 7:27am UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/new-to-homey-missing-features-in-homey-and-non-working-apps-integrations/159471/3 "2026-09-12T07:27:04Z")
Hi, I’m the developer of the Reolink integration, so I can clarify the camera side. The integration provides Homey with the Reolink RTSP stream, while Homey handles the actual playback. On the Web App this goes through Homey’s WebRTC layer, as browsers cannot play RTSP directly. One important limitation is the codec. H.264 generally works well in browsers, while H.265/HEVC has much more limited browser/WebRTC support. Some Reolink cameras or stream modes only provide H.265, particularly at higher resolutions, so a stream may work in the Android app but not in the browser. If your camera provides an H.264 substream, that is the best option for Homey web playback. For a 120+ device setup I’d recommend testing the important integrations first. Homey requires much less configuration than Home Assistant, but integrations are also constrained by what the Homey platform APIs and individual clients support. ---
**Author:** ![smarthomesven](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/smarthomesven/32/79712_2.png) [@smarthomesven](https://community.homey.app/u/smarthomesven)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2026, 7:51am UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/new-to-homey-missing-features-in-homey-and-non-working-apps-integrations/159471/4 "2026-09-12T07:51:25Z")
> [@Bob\_Dabolina](#): > > I find that design decision extraordinarily difficult to understand. Homey supports phones, tablets and watches and provides a desktop web interface, yet its dashboards are excluded from the platform with the greatest available screen space. Because less than 20% of Homey users use the web app. > [@\[Request\] Web interface](https://community.homey.app/t/request-web-interface/117072/9): > > Web app usage is less than 20% of all users. Unfortunately the codebase is not very compatible, even though we use React Native & React. ---
**Author:** ![SunBeech](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/sunbeech/32/111391_2.png) [@SunBeech](https://community.homey.app/u/SunBeech)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2026, 8:07am UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/new-to-homey-missing-features-in-homey-and-non-working-apps-integrations/159471/5 "2026-09-12T08:07:53Z")
> [@Bob\_Dabolina](#): > > Apparently, native Homey Dashboards cannot be viewed or edited through the desktop web interface at all. That’s indeed the case. You’ll find several topics ons this forum in which users are requesting adding the dashboard functionality to Homey’s web app, like this one: [[Request] Web interface](https://community.homey.app/t/request-web-interface/117072/). That also includes the response from one of the Homey founders on the decision to make Dashboards only available on mobile: > [@\[Request\] Web interface](https://community.homey.app/t/request-web-interface/117072/3): > > To be honest, I would also like Homey Dashboards to be available on the Homey Web App. Yet we have to make choices where to spend our developers’ time. And if you knew all other fantastic things we’re working on, I’m sure you’d prioritize those as well! And > [@\[Request\] Web interface](https://community.homey.app/t/request-web-interface/117072/9): > > Web app usage is less than 20% of all users. Unfortunately the codebase is not very compatible, even though we use React Native & React. But, that was the state end of 2024. You might want to add to that discussion or reach out to Athom with your suggestion (via [http://homey.app/support/](http://homey.app/support/)). There are alternative dashboard solutions though that work via a web interface (but not via the Homey mobile app). One of which I want to highlight, as it is in continuous development and offers many visualization options: [Dashboard Studio](https://homey.app/a/com.satoer.dashboardstudio/). It also has its own forum topic: [[APP][Pro] Dashboard Studio - A completely free-form dashboard designer](https://community.homey.app/t/app-pro-dashboard-studio-a-completely-free-form-dashboard-designer/151169). It does require some effort in setting up, though I onderstand the developer is adding more and more ready made components. ---
**Author:** ![weide43](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/community.homey.app/weide43/32/79186_2.png) [@weide43](https://community.homey.app/u/weide43)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 7:34am UTC](https://community.homey.app/t/new-to-homey-missing-features-in-homey-and-non-working-apps-integrations/159471/6 "2026-10-09T07:34:35Z")
@Bob_Dabolina on the dashboards: one workaround until Athom brings them to the web app. MCP AI Bridge (a community app I made) serves its own dashboard at `http://:52199/dashboard`, which opens in any browser on a desktop or laptop, with live device states and switches. You build it in one click on the app’s Dashboard tab, or let an AI assistant design it to your taste. It is a separate dashboard, not Homey’s own, and it stays on your own network. > [@\[APP\]\[Pro\] MCP AI Bridge: talk to your Homey with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Cursor, Mistral, Ollama, LM Studio, n8n, Home Assistant or any AI, also from Telegram and WhatsApp](https://community.homey.app/t/155930): > > robot MCP AI Bridge Talk to your Homey Pro with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot or any other AI assistant. In plain language, in your own language.speech_balloon “Turn off the lights downstairs.” “Is the back door still open?” “What used the most power this week?” “Build me a flow that turns on the porch light at sunset.” MCP AI Bridge runs on your Homey itself and lets any AI assistant read and operate your whole home: 190 actions over devices, flows, energy, dashboards and more. Talk to…