Home Assistant Actionable Notifications: Complete Guide for iOS & Android

Standard Home Assistant notifications are one-way. You get a message, you read it, you open the app to do something about it. Actionable notifications fix that. They put buttons directly on the notification so you can respond without opening anything.

Garage has been open for 10 minutes? Tap "Close" right from the lock screen. Alarm triggered? Tap "Disarm" without fumbling through the app. Camera caught motion? See the snapshot and tap "View Live" to pull up the feed.

This is how I handle notifications across a 700+ entity system. Every example here runs in production.

How Actionable Notifications Work

The flow has two parts:

1. **Send** a notification with an `actions` array. Each action gets a button on the notification.

2. **Listen** for the `mobile_app_notification_action` event. When the user taps a button, HA fires this event with the action identifier.

The send and the response handler are separate automations. This trips people up — the button on the notification does nothing by itself. You need a second automation that listens for the tap and executes the response.

Basic Push Notification

Before adding buttons, make sure basic notifications work. Every phone running the HA Companion App registers a `notify.mobile_app_*` service.

automation:

trigger:

entity_id: binary_sensor.front_door

to: "on"

action:

data:

title: "Front Door"

message: "Front door opened at {{ now().strftime('%I:%M %p') }}"

Replace `notify.mobile_app_phone` with your device's notify service. Find it in Developer Tools > Services — search for "notify" and look for the one matching your phone.

Actionable Buttons: The Actions Array

Add buttons by including an `actions` array in the notification's `data` block. Each action needs:

Example: Garage Auto-Close with "Keep Open" Button

This is the most useful actionable notification I run. When the garage has been open for 8 minutes, it sends a warning with a "Keep Open" button. If you don't tap it within 2 minutes, a second automation closes the garage.

**The notification automation:**

automation:

trigger:

entity_id: cover.garage_bay_1

to: "open"

for: "00:08:00"

action:

data:

title: "Garage Open"

message: "Bay 1 has been open 8 minutes. Closing in 2 minutes."

data:

tag: "garage-autoclose"

actions:

title: "Keep Open"

title: "Close Now"

Wait 2 minutes, then close unless cancelled

entity_id: input_boolean.garage_keep_open

state: "off"

target:

entity_id: cover.garage_bay_1

data:

title: "Garage Closed"

message: "Bay 1 auto-closed after 10 minutes."

data:

tag: "garage-autoclose"

**The event listener automation (handles the button tap):**

automation:

trigger:

event_type: mobile_app_notification_action

event_data:

action: GARAGE_KEEP_OPEN

event_type: mobile_app_notification_action

event_data:

action: GARAGE_CLOSE_NOW

action:

value_template: "{{ trigger.event.data.action == 'GARAGE_KEEP_OPEN' }}"

sequence:

target:

entity_id: input_boolean.garage_keep_open

data:

message: "Garage will stay open."

data:

tag: "garage-autoclose"

value_template: "{{ trigger.event.data.action == 'GARAGE_CLOSE_NOW' }}"

sequence:

target:

entity_id: cover.garage_bay_1

input_boolean:

garage_keep_open:

name: Garage Keep Open Override

Key details:

Camera Snapshot in Notifications

Attach a camera image to any notification. The Companion App downloads the image from your HA instance and displays it inline.

Example: Camera Motion with Snapshot

automation:

trigger:

entity_id: input_boolean.front_camera_motion

to: "on"

condition:

entity_id: input_boolean.front_camera_cooldown

state: "off"

action:

Start cooldown

target:

entity_id: input_boolean.front_camera_cooldown

target:

entity_id: timer.front_camera_cooldown_timer

Delay for subject to be fully in frame

Grab snapshot from camera

Wait for file write

Send notification with snapshot and actions

data:

title: "Motion: Front Driveway"

message: "{{ now().strftime('%I:%M %p') }}"

data:

image: /local/snapshots/front_latest.jpg

tag: "motion-front"

group: "camera-motion"

actions:

title: "View Camera"

uri: /lovelace/cameras

title: "Dismiss"

Reset motion boolean

target:

entity_id: input_boolean.front_camera_motion

The `image` field points to `/local/snapshots/front_latest.jpg`, which maps to `/config/www/snapshots/front_latest.jpg` on disk. The Companion App fetches this via your HA internal URL.

The `URI` action type is special — it opens a URL instead of firing an event. Use it for "View Camera" or "Open Dashboard" buttons. On iOS, `uri` supports HA dashboard paths and external URLs. On Android, use `uri` the same way.

For the snapshot itself, grab it directly from the camera's CGI endpoint (not from the RTSP stream). See my [camera notifications guide](/blog/home-assistant-camera-notifications) for the full setup.

Critical Alerts (Override Do Not Disturb)

iOS supports critical alerts that bypass Do Not Disturb and the silent switch. These should be reserved for genuine security events — alarm triggers, water leaks, smoke detection.

Example: Alarm Triggered with Disarm Button

automation:

trigger:

entity_id: alarm_control_panel.area_1

to: "triggered"

action:

data:

title: "ALARM TRIGGERED"

message: >

{{ trigger.to_state.attributes.changed_by | default('Unknown zone') }}

at {{ now().strftime('%I:%M %p') }}

data:

push:

sound:

name: default

critical: 1

volume: 1.0

tag: "alarm-triggered"

actions:

title: "Disarm"

destructive: true

title: "View Cameras"

uri: /lovelace/cameras

**The disarm handler:**

automation:

trigger:

event_type: mobile_app_notification_action

event_data:

action: ALARM_DISARM

action:

target:

entity_id: alarm_control_panel.area_1

data:

code: !secret alarm_code

data:

title: "Alarm Disarmed"

message: "Disarmed via notification at {{ now().strftime('%I:%M %p') }}"

data:

tag: "alarm-triggered"

iOS critical alert details:

**Android equivalent:**

Android does not have the exact same critical alert mechanism, but you can achieve similar behavior:

data:

ttl: 0

priority: high

channel: alarm_stream

importance: max

Set `priority: high` and `importance: max` to ensure the notification arrives immediately. Create a notification channel (`alarm_stream`) in the Companion App settings with sound and vibration set to override DND.

Notification Groups

When you have multiple cameras or sensors firing, notifications stack up fast. Grouping collapses them.

data:

group: "camera-motion"

All notifications with the same `group` value are collapsed into a stack on iOS. Android uses `channel` similarly, but grouping is handled differently — set `group` on Android as well and the Companion App handles it.

For camera notifications, I group all motion alerts together:

Front camera notification

data:

group: "camera-motion"

tag: "motion-front"

Backyard camera notification

data:

group: "camera-motion"

tag: "motion-backyard"

The `group` collapses them into a stack. The `tag` keeps each camera's notification as a separate, replaceable entry within the group. New motion on the front camera replaces the old front camera notification but does not touch the backyard one.

Replacing and Updating Notifications

The `tag` field is the key to clean notification management. When you send a notification with a tag that matches an existing notification, it replaces it.

Use cases:

Clear a notification by tag

data:

message: clear_notification

data:

tag: "alarm-triggered"

On iOS, sending `clear_notification` as the message with a matching tag removes the notification from the notification center entirely.

Multi-Device Notifications

For a household with multiple phones, create a notification group in `configuration.yaml`:

notify:

name: all_phones

services:

Then use `notify.all_phones` in your automations. The action events still fire per-device, so only the person who taps the button triggers the response. You do not get duplicate actions.

Putting It All Together

A complete actionable notification setup for a typical home:

1. **Garage auto-close** — warning with Keep Open / Close Now buttons

2. **Alarm triggered** — critical alert with Disarm button

3. **Camera motion** — snapshot with View Camera link

4. **Door left open** — reminder with Dismiss button

5. **Person arrives home** — informational with Disarm / Ignore buttons

Each one needs two automations: the sender and the action handler. Use packages to keep the sender, handler, and helpers together in one file.

Common mistakes to avoid:

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*This post is part of [The Automated Home](/) — practical Home Assistant guides from a 700+ entity production system.*