I created a start page for my browser where I could collect the links and widgets I use daily. After a while I thought it would also be useful to integrate support for Homey Pro, and the project gradually grew into a combined start page and Homey dashboard that runs directly in the browser.
It can be used directly from GitHub (or hosted locally on your own server). Maybe others might find it useful as well.
Features:
Works directly in your web browser, making it easy to use on Windows
Links and simple built-in widgets (not Homey’s own) in a column layout
Separate Homey layouts with background images (for example a house floor plan) where capabilities can be placed freely on the screen
Multiple tabs (for example per floor, room or function)
Live updates of capabilities via Homey Cloud
Can be installed as a PWA app, which makes kiosk setups easier
All data is stored locally in your browser (nothing is stored in any external cloud)
Customizable with several configuration options
Requirements:
Requires a Homey Pro 2023 or newer
Simply retrieve your Homey ID and API key and connect via Homey Cloud
Platforms:
Works in modern browsers on Windows and Android (phone or tablet).
It should also work on Apple devices, but I unfortunately haven’t had the possibility to test that myself.
(Some built-in widgets are region-specific (for example electricity price widgets for Sweden), but the Homey functionality itself should work regardless of location.)
Run it directly from GitHub:
More information, FAQ and the web app files are available here:
No it’s not possible, at the moment dashboards can only be shared using export and import.
Since StartPanel runs entirely in the browser and stores everything in LocalStorage, there is currently no built-in cloud or sync feature.
If a lot of people start requesting that functionality I may look into possible solutions in the future. But it would be a somewhat bigger step to implement, with both pros and cons.
Hope you like the app anyway
I’m also curious what you think about it so far, since I haven’t really heard from any users yet whether they find it useful or not.
I think it works very well. But it lacks some things like support for widgets, more options for changing the appearance of dashboards (e.g. changing the height of buttons), support for icons, etc. But I guess you will develop more things in the long run. Keep up the good work!
Some of the things you mention are actually already available. For example, there are quite a few widgets included. If you press Edit and then “+ Add Widget”, you will get a list of all available widgets.
There are also many options for adjusting the appearance and behavior of the dashboard under Settings (the gear icon in the top right corner).
That said, the project is still evolving and I will continue adding improvements over time.
Regarding Homey’s built-in dashboard widgets: unfortunately, those are not available to external apps, so it’s not currently possible to embed or reuse them inside StartPanel. That limitation comes from the Homey platform itself.
You can only use the widgets that I have built into StartPanel itself.
If you want to adjust the size of buttons and columns, you can try Settings > Layout & Appearance and use the UI Scale slider. That’s currently the main way to make elements larger or smaller.
And you can adjust the width of each column individually by going into Edit mode and then clicking the small Pencil button that appears next to the column title.
Try and see if you can make it look as you want.
Thanks again for testing it and for your suggestions!
I have in the latest version added a new Slider under Settings > Display to make the padding increase in widgets so you now can get the column heigher and less compact if you want
Very good but I would have liked it if it were possible to make the height even narrower. The adjustment didn’t make much difference compared to the lowest to the highest.
And I would have liked the option to stack columns by sliding them under/over each other.
The padding slider is mainly intended to slightly adjust the spacing, but I may extend the range later.
If you have an example of how you would like the height adjustment to behave, feel free to attach a screenshot or mockup. That would make it easier for me to understand exactly what you mean.
Also, just as a tip: you can click on a widget’s title to collapse or expand it. This can help make the dashboard more compact when needed.
Regarding stacking columns by sliding them under/over each other — the current idea is to keep the layout system fairly simple, but I appreciate the suggestion and will keep it in mind.
Nice project, looks very promising.
Easy to install on a NAS and lots of freedom to customize column and fields.
However without a centralised configuration file were different devices or browsers are able to connect, it is not workable for me.
Hopefully this option will become available.
Thanks for the feedback, glad you like the project!
And yes, that would definitely be a nice feature.
However, StartPanel is intentionally designed to run completely in the browser and store its configuration locally using LocalStorage. This keeps the app very simple to host — no backend, database, accounts or cloud services are required, which makes it easy to run on a NAS or any static web server.
A centralized configuration shared between multiple devices would unfortunately require some kind of backend/API to safely store and update the configuration, since a browser-based app cannot directly write to files on the server (for example a shared JSON file on a NAS).
For now the approach is to keep everything local and allow dashboards to be exported and imported as JSON. That makes it possible to move or share a dashboard between devices while keeping the setup simple and lightweight.
I may look into other options in the future if there is enough interest, but the main goal with StartPanel is to keep it easy to host and maintain.
Thanks again for the feedback and the encouraging words!
Thanks for the suggestion! That’s actually one of the approaches I’ve had in mind as well. However, there are several challenges with that route, so for now I’m trying to keep StartPanel simple and fully browser-based only.
That’s actually one of the approaches I’ve had in mind as well. However, there are several challenges with that route, so for now I’m trying to keep StartPanel simple and fully browser-based only. 