2021.11: Entity category section

source/_posts/2021-11-03-release-202111.markdown

@@ -48,8 +48,7 @@ Enjoy the release!
 
 ../Frenck
 
-
+- [Daylight saving time bug](#daylight-saving-time-bug)
-- [Daylight Saving Time Bug](#daylight-saving-time-bug)
 - [Visit devices and services](#visit-devices-and-services)
 - [Entity categorization](#entity-categorization)
 - [The icon picker](#the-icon-picker)
@@ -64,7 +63,7 @@ Enjoy the release!
 - [All changes](#all-changes)
 
 
-## Daylight Saving Time Bug
+## Daylight saving time bug
 
 If you have already transitioned daylight saving time (DST), you might have
 experienced it already. If you have not switched yet, this message is extra
@@ -109,36 +108,62 @@ too; [Read all about it on our developer blog](https://developers.home-assistant
 
 ## Entity categorization
 
-TODO: Make this nice and understandable.
+Since we introduced the concept of devices, we have been seeing more and
+more entities being created, which is great! It means we can automate on a lot
+more device features. However, this does impose other issues, like:
+clutter on a generated dashboard, unused entities exposed to voice assistants,
+or turn on/off things in areas as a side-effect. Let me try to explain the
+latter issue with an example.
 
-Entities can now have a category: Primary entity (that either controls or is a sensor),
+Let consider a wallplug. It can be turned on/off using a switch entity,
-configuration entity that changes a setting/configuration option of the device; and diagnostic
+however, my wallplug also has a switch to enable a child lock that controls
-entities that provide information about the device itself.
+its physical button. Now, if I had this device in my living room area and
+turned off all switches in my living room, it would turn off the switch and
+the child lock! This is not what we want, right?
 
-Take a light bulb for example. The light entity itself is a primary entity. However, the
+To resolve issues like these (and more), we introduce entity categories.
-select entity that provides the power on behavior configuration of the bulb, is a configuration
-option of the device and thus a configuration entity. While the sensor providing the signal
-strength of the light bulb is a diagnostic entity.
 
-This is now shown in de device page:
+Entities without a category are now considered primary entities: The entities
+we daily use and expect from a device, i.e., the power on/off switch.
+Furthermore, entities can be categorized as configuration or diagnostic entities.
+A configuration entity provides a setting/configuration option for the device,
+while a diagnostic entity provides information about the device.
+
+Take a light bulb as an example. The light entity itself is a primary entity.
+However, the select entity that provides the power on behavior configuration of
+the bulb is a setting of the device and thus a configuration entity. While the
+sensor providing the signal strength of the light bulb is a diagnostic entity.
+
+Another, more visual example, from the device page of a Sonos Move speaker:
 
 <p class='img'>
-<img src='https://developers.home-assistant.io/assets/images/entity_categories-f405c90a55eedabedbe316466b808b6e.png' alt='Screenshot of (TODO)'>
+<img src='/images/blog/2021-11/entity-categories.png' alt='Screenshot of the Sonos device page that now has entities categorized'>
-Screenshot of (TODO).
+Screenshot of the Sonos device page that now has entities categorized.
 </p>
 
-Entities that are marked as non-primary (so, either configuration or diagnostic)
+In the above screen, you can see the Sonos speaker itself is a primary control
-are not exposed to Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant (by default, can be changed).
+entity, while the entities that provide device configuration options and
-They also are not shown on generated Lovelace dashboards.
+entities that provide diagnostic information about the device itself are now
+separated nicely.
 
-Additionaly, these non-primary entities are not called by service calls
+With entities that are non-primary (so are either configuration or
-that target the device or area the device is in. They are only called if
+diagnostic entities), we now do the following:
-expliclity called by entity ID. For example, if you turn on all your switches
-in an area, it won't affect switches that provided a configuration entity.
 
+- Non-primary entities are hidden from generated Lovelace dashboards. This
+  reduces the clutter and makes the generated dashboards more useful for daily
+  use.
+- Non-primary entities are, by default, not exposed to Amazon Alexa or
+  Google Assistant. You, of course, still can expose them, but by default,
+  we don't send them to these voice assistants.
+- None-primary entities are not called by service calls that target the device
+  or area the device is in. They are only called if explicitly called by their
+  entity ID.
 
-Just like the previous visit device or service feature, this new organization
+Please note, the above-listed points are breaking changes, also listed in
-capability has been adopted by a lot of our maintainers: 60+ integrations!
+the breaking changes section of these release notes.
+
+Like the previous visit device or service feature, this new organization
+capability has been adopted by many of our maintainers: 60+ integrations!
 To name a few: Sonos, Z-Wave JS, Shelly, SwitchBot, deCONZ, Neato, Netatmo,
 August, MQTT, Hue, Roomba, Tibber, AirVisual, KNX, motionEye, and many more.
 Oh, and soon, we can add ESPHome to that list!
@@ -146,16 +171,6 @@ Oh, and soon, we can add ESPHome to that list!
 If you are a custom integration developer, you can add support for this feature
 too; [Read all about it on our developer blog](https://developers.home-assistant.io/blog/2021/10/26/config-entity#entity-categories).
 
-
-Related PRs:
-
-- Initial support for entity category (#10266) @balloob (frontend)
-- Don't add indirectly referenced config entities to service calls ([@emontnemery] - [#57671]) ([homekit docs]) ([homeassistant docs]) (breaking-change)
-- Don't expose config or diagnostic entities to Amazon Alexa by default ([@emontnemery] - [#57770]) ([alexa docs])
-- Don't expose config or diagnostic entities to Google Assistant ([@emontnemery] - [#57669]) ([google_assistant docs]) (breaking-change)
-- Don't expose config or diagnostic entities to cloud ([@emontnemery] - [#57771]) ([cloud docs]) (breaking-change)
-
-
 ## The icon picker
 
 Adding nice and matching icons to your entities, makes all the difference for
@@ -313,6 +328,9 @@ the specific device or area the device or entity is in.
 If you need to make a service call to these entities, you will need to call
 them by their entity ID explicitly.
 
+Please note: This does not apply to entity groups, as groups are explicitly
+based on entities (unlike areas) and thus still work as before.
+
 ([@emontnemery] - [#57671])
 
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