Home Assistant: Notify Multiple Phones With One Group

Researched from current Home Assistant and Companion app documentation, with relevant Core 2026.10.4 source code checked on October 26, 2026. The walkthrough and expected results are illustrative; they were not tested on physical phones or a running household installation. The cover is an AI-generated editorial illustration.

Use one named destination for household messages

To make Home Assistant notify multiple phones, first confirm that each phone can receive a plain message. Then create a Notify group named Household phones and send your routine’s message to that group. When someone changes phones, you can maintain that one recipient list instead of editing every routine that uses it.

An entity is a named Home Assistant control, reading or destination. A phone’s notify entity is its message destination. An action is the instruction to send the message. Keeping those two things separate makes the similar-looking names easier to understand.

Home Assistant added mobile-app notify entities in 2026.5, alongside the existing phone-specific actions. On an older installation, or for advanced phone features, use the action-group option below. You do not need to replace a working advanced notification just to adopt the newer basic method.

1. Choose the method your message needs

On a small screen, scroll the table sideways.

The basic send-message action takes a message and, where supported, a title. The current Mobile App implementation keeps additional phone options on the phone-specific action path. A group combines recipients; it does not make every Android option work on iPhone.

2. Prove each phone can receive one message

1. On each phone, open the official Home Assistant Companion app and confirm it is connected to the intended server. Allow notifications in the phone’s operating-system settings.
2. Using an administrator account in Home Assistant, open Settings → Devices & services → Entities. Find the notify entity belonging to each phone’s Mobile App device. Record the actual IDs; the examples below use notify.alex_phone and notify.sam_phone.
3. Open Settings → Tools → Actions. Older versions label this Developer tools. Choose Send a notification message (notify.send_message), select only the first phone, and enter Practice A: first phone only.
4. Select Perform action and check that phone’s notification list. Repeat with the second phone and Practice B: second phone only.

These are real messages, so tell the recipients you are testing. The expected result is the matching text on the selected phone. Do not add images, critical alerts or action buttons yet. The Tools reference explains this administrator-only test area.

If a phone has no notify entity, check its app registration and push permission before creating a group. If it only offers a working notify.mobile_app_… action, use the older method below. When a plain individual message fails, follow our phone notification delivery checks; grouping the phone will not fix its delivery path.

3. Create and test Household phones

1. Go to Settings → Devices & services → Helpers → Create helper → Group, then choose Notify group.
2. Name it Household phones. Select only the two verified phone notify entities. Save it and check the resulting entity ID; this guide assumes notify.household_phones.
3. Back in Tools → Actions, choose notify.send_message, target only that group, and send Practice C: household group.
4. Check both phones. Each should receive Practice C. Leave shared tablets and retired phones out unless they are intentional recipients.

The Group documentation distinguishes these UI-created entity groups from YAML-created action groups. A person record such as person.alex is not a notify entity. Group membership also does not mean “only send while this person is home.”

4. Rehearse a complete two-phone routine

Here is a small worked example: a software switch sends a practice dinner message to both phones. It controls no appliance. This checks the trigger, destination and actual recipients together before you connect a real reminder.

1. Create another helper under Helpers → Create helper → Toggle. Name it Household notice practice. Keep it out of other automations and leave it off.
2. Check its ID. The example uses input_boolean.household_notice_practice. A Toggle helper is a software on/off value, with no physical device attached.
3. Go to Settings → Automations & scenes → Create automation → Create new automation. Open its menu, choose Edit in YAML, and replace the new automation’s contents with the block below.
4. Substitute your two actual helper IDs, save the automation and ensure it is enabled. Turn the practice helper from off to on using its normal control.

alias: Household notification practice
triggers:
  - trigger: state
    entity_id: input_boolean.household_notice_practice
    from: "off"
    to: "on"
conditions: []
actions:
  - action: notify.send_message
    target:
      entity_id: notify.household_phones
    data:
      message: "Practice only: dinner notification for both phones."
mode: single

Paste this into one automation’s editor, not configuration.yaml. YAML is the indented text format shown above. The state trigger waits for off to become on. For another trial, turn the helper off, then on again. Leaving it on does not send repeated messages.

The following are expected outcomes from the example, not measured delivery results:

On a small screen, scroll sideways to compare both recipients.

If the group test works but the toggle does not, inspect that automation’s Trace, its record of the run. Confirm the helper ID, enabled state and off-to-on transition. Run actions tests the actions without proving the trigger works; see Home Assistant’s automation troubleshooting.

Once the rehearsal passes, use the same group in an ordinary text reminder. Our calendar notification walkthrough supplies the appointment timing; replace only its sending action when its message needs no advanced phone options. Disable the practice automation after the exercise.

5. Use an action group when you need phone extras

If you need notification buttons or images, keep the phone-specific actions. You can list them in a reusable action group. This optional route involves the configuration file; the UI helper above cannot contain those action names.

First test each exact action under Tools → Actions. Then add this to configuration.yaml, substituting your registered action names. Under services:, omit the leading notify.:

notify:
  - platform: group
    name: household_phone_actions
    services:
      - action: mobile_app_alex_phone
      - action: mobile_app_sam_phone

If a notify: section already exists, append the group to its list; do not create a duplicate heading. If that section uses an included file, put the list entry in that file. Keep a copy of your previous configuration, validate it before applying changes, and restart Home Assistant at a suitable time for the household to register the group. Do not paste this configuration into an automation.

Test the resulting action with a plain message:

action: notify.household_phone_actions
data:
  message: "Practice D: phone action group."

Only after both recipients pass should you add advanced settings from the Companion notification reference. For options that differ by operating system, use separate phone actions or separate platform groups. The Yes/No notification guide explains response handling; sending a button to two phones does not by itself coordinate their replies.

6. Replace a phone without losing a recipient

1. Register the new phone and send it a uniquely labeled direct test. Do not assume its notify ID matches the old phone’s name.
2. Edit Household phones under Helpers. Replace the old recipient with the verified new notify entity, keeping the group’s own ID unchanged. For the YAML option, update the member action name and apply that configuration change.
3. Send a freshly labeled group test, then briefly enable and repeat the toggle trial. Confirm the other household phone and the new phone both receive it; disable the practice automation afterward. If the old phone is still registered and in your possession, check that it receives no new group test. Earlier messages may remain on it.
4. Review any routines that still target the old phone directly. Updating this group only updates routines that use this group.

For example, replacing Sam’s phone changes the members from notify.alex_phone + notify.sam_phone to notify.alex_phone + notify.sam_new_phone. The automation continues to target notify.household_phones. This is a configuration example, not an automatic migration feature.

Check receipt, not just the group timestamp

A notify entity’s timestamp records when a message was sent. It is not a read receipt. The group can also remain available when only some members are available. Inspect each phone during the rehearsal; a successful action does not establish identical arrival times or prove someone noticed the alert.

Grouping happens in Home Assistant, but delivery may still use Apple or Google push services. Local Push is a separate connection with platform-specific requirements. A working group does not prove delivery will work without internet. Avoid private details in a shared group or on lock screens, and keep smoke alarms and other essential warnings independent of this convenience routine.

Our recommendation is a short, intentional list of recipients and ordinary messages first. If you are planning coordinated household routines, Tara’s home automation kit overview describes that broader setup.

Other practical questions

Does notify.notify send to every phone?

No. Home Assistant describes notify.notify as a shortcut to the first notification action it finds. Choose a named group or explicit phone targets.

Can Android and iPhone be in the same group?

Yes, for the basic text message in this guide. Test both phones individually first. Advanced options such as sounds and critical alerts can need different settings for each platform.

Will a new phone join automatically?

No. Add its actual notify entity to the helper, remove the replaced recipient from that group, and repeat the test. Other automations that target the old phone directly still need separate attention.