Vulpo 1.3Updated
Home Assistant Live Activities on iPhone
Live Activities keep a running process on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island. The official Home Assistant app shows them for notifications you send with live_update and a tag; it needs Home Assistant 2026.7 and iOS 17.2 or newer. Vulpo ships ready-made monitors with buttons for appliances, vacuums, solar, climate and people.
With the official app
Since September 2026 the official app turns a notification into a Live Activity when its data contains live_update: true and a tag. Sending the same payload again with the same tag updates the activity in place, and the clear_notification message with that tag ends it, so one automation can start, update and end a washing machine cycle. The documentation lists the requirements: Home Assistant 2026.7 or newer and iOS 17.2 or newer. Live Activities run on iPhone only (an Apple limitation), end after at most 8 hours, and iOS limits how often they can update.
Good for
Anything you can describe as a notification, with your own wording and progress
You write
The automation and the notification payload for each update
Tapping it
Opens the app at a URL you choose
With Vulpo
Vulpo ships five monitors: appliances (dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, oven or any other appliance), vacuums with progress, battery and current room, solar production, climate and a person's arrival. You pick an entity in the app and Vulpo writes the Home Assistant automations that start, update and end the activity. Each one has buttons to pause, resume or stop an appliance or vacuum and to adjust a thermostat, without opening the app. Live Activities are part of Vulpo Pro and do not need Nabu Casa. Vulpo is made by the publisher of this site.
Which one to use
If you already write notification automations and want full control over the text, the official app's Live Activities are free and flexible. If you want a washing machine or vacuum on the Lock Screen with working buttons and no payloads to maintain, Vulpo's monitors do that for you.
Questions
Why did my Live Activity disappear?
iOS ends Live Activities after at most 8 hours, and they also end when the app or automation that runs them ends them. Start a new one when the next cycle begins.
Do Home Assistant Live Activities work on iPad?
No. Apple does not offer Live Activities on iPad, so they appear on iPhone only.
Sources
Facts about other apps come from their App Store listings and documentation as of the date above. Home Assistant is a trademark of the Open Home Foundation; Vulpo is not affiliated with it. Corrections: josh@vulpo.app.