Replace a Device

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Intro

When you replace a tablet or wall panel, the new one takes the old one’s place in Home Assistant/Homey. Every automation and flow that controlled the old device now controls the new one, so you don’t need to change them. The new device also takes on the old device’s settings, such as its brightness and language, and its admin code. It’s for always-on displays: the devices with Always-On Display on, which Zendo registers with Home Assistant/Homey so your automations can control them. You replace a device from “Control Panels”, on your phone or tablet.

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When you’ll use it

Each always-on display is a device of its own in Home Assistant/Homey. When you set up a device on Zendo, it joins as a new device, even if it’s the same tablet as before, so your automations don’t control it yet. Replace the old device when:

• A tablet breaks and you set up a new one in its place, such as the tablet on the kitchen wall at home, or the one at reception in an office.
• You upgrade a wall panel to a newer model.
• You reinstall the Zendo app, for example after a crash, and set up the device again.

To check whether a device is offline, and when it was last seen, open it in “Control Panels”.

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Replace a device

Set up the new device first:

1. Add it to your Zendo. Choose the same device group as the old device, so it shows the same accessories, and automations and doorbell rings that target the group reach it.
2. Turn on Always-On Display on it. On a wall panel, it’s always on.

Then, on your phone or tablet:

1. Tap
2. Tap “Settings”
3. Tap “Control Panels”
4. Under its device group, tap the new device
5. Tap “Replace a Device”
6. Tap the old device in the list.
7. Tap “Replace”, then confirm. If the old device is still online, Zendo asks once more: tap “Replace Anyway” to go ahead. See Replace an online device.
8. Tap “Done”.

The list shows the other devices in Home Assistant/Homey: offline devices first, then the most recently seen. Each one shows its name and model, and “Online”, “Offline” or when it was last seen.

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Keep the old name

The new device keeps its own name, and your automations work either way. To show the new device under the old device’s name in Zendo and in Home Assistant/Homey, rename it on the new device:

1. Tap
2. Tap “Settings”
3. Tap “Device Settings”
4. Tap “Device Name”
5. Enter the old device’s name and tap “Save”.

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If Zendo can’t replace the device

If Zendo says “Not ready yet”, the new device isn’t connected to Home Assistant/Homey yet. Turn on Always-On Display on the new device, keep the Zendo app open on it, then try again. On a wall panel, Always-On Display is always on. If Zendo says “Device not found”, the old device is no longer in Home Assistant/Homey, for example because someone deleted it there, or another device replaced it. Zendo reloads the list.

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What carries over

The new device takes the old device’s place in your automations, and takes on its settings and admin code.

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Automations and flows

The new device takes over the old device’s entry in Home Assistant/Homey. The entry that was added for the new device when you turned on Always-On Display is removed, so the new device is listed once.

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Device settings

The new device takes on the old device’s settings automatically, the next time it connects to Home Assistant/Homey. If it’s online, that’s within a few seconds. Settings the new device’s hardware can’t use are left out. For example, a tablet that replaces a wall panel doesn’t take on Wake on Approach, because the tablet has no sensor for it. The settings come from a backup on your hub. Each always-on display keeps a backup of its settings on your hub, and updates it whenever a setting changes.

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Admin code

The device admin code is transferred with the settings (if a code was set).

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What doesn’t carry over

Set these up again on the new device:

• On a wall panel, the date, time and time zone.
• The device’s name. To show the new device under the old device’s name, rename it.

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Replace an online device

You can replace a device that’s still online, for example when you install a new wall panel and the old one is still working. Zendo asks you to confirm a second time, with “Replace Anyway”. To stop using the old device, turn off Always-On Display on it, or delete it in “Control Panels”.

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Remove old devices

A device you no longer use stays in Home Assistant/Homey, offline. That includes a device you sign out of Zendo, or delete in “Control Panels”. It stays so that a new device can replace it later.