Quickbars for Home Assistant Review

If you run Home Assistant and have an Android TV or Google TV device sitting in your living room, there's a good chance you've been sleeping on one of the most useful companion apps in the ecosystem. Quickbars for Home Assistant has somehow flown under the radar — but the few people who've discovered it are genuinely excited about what it can do.

What Is Quickbars, Actually?

Quickbars is an Android and Google TV application that bridges your Home Assistant smart home setup directly into your TV experience. The core idea is simple but powerful: instead of grabbing your phone or opening a separate dashboard every time you want to control a light, check a camera feed, or trigger an automation, you can do it right from the big screen — without interrupting what you're watching.

The standout feature that got people talking is Picture-in-Picture (PiP) camera support. Being able to pull up a security camera feed as a PiP overlay while you're mid-episode of something is genuinely useful, and it's the kind of seamless integration that Home Assistant power users have wanted for a long time.

The "Why Isn't Anyone Talking About This?" Factor

One user in the smart home community put it plainly: they stumbled across Quickbars a couple of weeks prior and were shocked by the silence around it. "This app is super powerful and fun to use," they noted — and that captures the general reaction from those who've tried it. It doesn't feel like a half-baked side project. It feels like something that was thought through.

For anyone running Nvidia Shields (a very common Home Assistant household setup), this is immediately relevant. The Shield runs Android TV, which means Quickbars installs and runs natively. Combine that with the kind of smart home depth Home Assistant offers — automations, sensors, cameras, lights, thermostats — and the potential here is significant.

Who This Is For

Let's be direct about the target user here. This is not for someone just getting started with smart home tech. Quickbars assumes you already have:

• A functioning Home Assistant instance (local or cloud)
• An Android TV or Google TV device (Nvidia Shield, Chromecast with Google TV, etc.)
• Some entities already set up — cameras, lights, switches, sensors

If you're in that camp, this app slots into your setup naturally. If you're still evaluating whether to commit to the Home Assistant ecosystem at all, Quickbars isn't the reason to start — but it's a compelling reason to stay once you're in.

What We Don't Know Yet

Because community discussion around Quickbars is still sparse, there are genuine gaps in the picture. Long-term stability, how it handles Home Assistant updates, whether the developer is actively maintaining it — these are all open questions. The app's obscurity is both its intrigue and its risk. Early adopters get the excitement of finding something before everyone else, but they also absorb the uncertainty of a product that hasn't been stress-tested by a large user base yet.

One practical note: if you're in the process of reducing reliance on Google services (a surprisingly common goal in the Home Assistant community), this app does tie you to the Android TV ecosystem. That's a consideration worth naming, not a dealbreaker for most.

The Verdict

Quickbars for Home Assistant is a genuinely clever app that deserves far more attention than it's getting. The PiP camera integration alone is a differentiator, and the broader concept — putting your smart home controls on the same screen you're already staring at — is executed well from early accounts. It's not perfect and it's not for everyone, but for the right user, it fills a real gap in the Android TV + Home Assistant workflow.

If you've been looking for a reason to make your TV a proper smart home hub rather than just a streaming box — this might be it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What devices does Quickbars for Home Assistant work on?

A: Quickbars is designed for Android and Google TV devices. This includes popular hardware like Nvidia Shield TV, Chromecast with Google TV, and similar Android TV-based streaming devices.

Q: Do I need a paid Home Assistant subscription to use Quickbars?

A: Quickbars connects to your existing Home Assistant instance. Whether you need a cloud subscription depends on how your Home Assistant is configured — local setups and cloud-connected setups both appear to be supported, but verify your specific configuration before installing.

Q: What is the PiP camera feature in Quickbars?

A: PiP stands for Picture-in-Picture. Quickbars allows you to overlay a live camera feed from your Home Assistant setup as a small floating window on your TV screen, so you can monitor a door camera or security feed without leaving what you're watching.

Q: Is Quickbars good for beginners to Home Assistant?

A: Not really. Quickbars is a companion app that adds value on top of an existing Home Assistant setup. If you're new to smart home automation, you'll want to get Home Assistant running and configured first before Quickbars makes much sense.

Q: Is Quickbars actively maintained?

A: Community discussion around Quickbars is still limited, so long-term maintenance history isn't well-documented yet. It's worth checking the app's listing for recent update dates before committing to building workflows around it.

— Tech Lead Editor, CPrice