Home Assistant has released Home Assistant OS 18.0 with a newer Linux 6.18 LTS kernel, smaller installation images, easier virtual machine installs, and improved memory management. Raspberry Pi users get direct bootloader firmware checks—though Raspberry Pi 5
For anyone who’s ever stared at a smart home setup screen wondering why it’s taking so long, Home Assistant OS 18.0 lands like a small exhale: less waiting, fewer manual steps, and smoother first boot.
The update, Home Assistant OS 18.0, is now available and the project recommends all users update to the latest version. And it’s more than a polish pass. This release is built around changes intended to make installations and early setup less frustrating across the hardware that runs Home Assistant.
The biggest shift is under the hood. Home Assistant OS 18.0 moves to the Linux 6.18 LTS kernel, upgrading from Linux 6.12. Alongside that, it refreshes key core components, including Docker 29.5.3, containerd 2.2.4, and Buildroot 2025.02.14. The goal is straightforward: improve stability, compatibility, and overall performance, while supporting newer hardware and staying secure for longer.
Installation is also getting a direct quality-of-life upgrade. The system images are now smaller. which means less time to flash onto devices such as Raspberry Pi boards and mini PCs. On first boot. Home Assistant OS 18.0 automatically expands and uses all available storage space. so users don’t have to manually do the resizing step themselves.
Virtual machine users get relief too. Previously, many people had to increase the size of the virtual hard drive before starting Home Assistant for the first time. The new virtual machine images come with 32GB of storage already allocated, letting setups start without extra configuration.
Even the way the system handles memory has been adjusted for real-world device variety. When a device runs low on RAM. Home Assistant OS 18.0 no longer creates a swap file equal to one-third of the device’s memory. Instead. it keeps the default swap file between 1GB and 4GB. a change meant to work more efficiently across a wider range of devices. Users who manually customized their swap settings won’t be affected by this update.
Raspberry Pi owners also gain a new capability that could save a lot of back-and-forth. Home Assistant OS 18.0 lets them check and update bootloader firmware directly from the OS using command-line tools. Home Assistant has also pointed to a future improvement: a coming release of the Home Assistant app. Home Assistant Core 2026.7. is expected to show these firmware updates directly in the user interface.
There’s a crucial warning for Raspberry Pi 5 owners, though. Home Assistant OS 18.0 requires bootloader firmware dated February 12, 2025, or newer. Systems running older firmware may experience display freezes during the boot process. Users are advised to update their bootloader before installing Home Assistant OS 18.0.
The first-boot experience itself has been tweaked as well. During initial startup, users will now see a progress bar while Home Assistant Core downloads and installs. Home Assistant has also fixed early mDNS announcements, which should make devices discoverable by mobile apps sooner during setup.
With Home Assistant OS 18.0 available now. the message is clear: the project is trying to make the path from “install” to “it’s working” shorter—and a little less error-prone—especially in the moments where most users are most likely to get stuck. The full changelog is available through the project’s release notes.
Home Assistant OS 18.0 smart home Raspberry Pi Linux 6.18 LTS Docker 29.5.3 containerd 2.2.4 Buildroot 2025.02.14 bootloader firmware mDNS Home Assistant Core 2026.7
So it’s faster because of a Linux update? Kinda wild my whole house runs on that lol.
I saw “smaller images” and thought it meant it takes up less memory on the devices too. Like win-win but also I’m nervous to update now because my setup took forever last time. Does this auto-resize every Pi or just the 5?
My buddy told me Home Assistant updates can brick things. Now they’re saying it checks the bootloader on Raspberry Pi? That sounds like it could go wrong. Also if it already gives 32GB on virtual machines, why did it make me expand before??
I don’t really care about Linux kernels but the “less waiting” part is real. Every time I install one of these platforms there’s some manual step I forget. If it expands storage automatically then maybe I won’t have to click around like an idiot. Still feels like the update is gonna break something I didn’t even know existed.