The BlumSafe Screen Just Got a Back-to-School Upgrade (and You Can Too)
Back-to-school season is when family life gets the most chaotic, and the most in need of a system. DAKboard, the company whose technology powers every BlumSafe Screen, just made that a lot easier with their newest update.
DAKboard just launched TouchHub, and if you own a BlumSafe Screen with the touchscreen upgrade, you already have it. No new hardware, no reinstall. It just showed up as a software update, which is exactly the kind of “zero maintenance, 100% customizable” experience I fell in love with when I designed the first Screen back in 2021.
A Quick Recap on the Screen: What and Why
The BlumSafe Screen is a secretly-hinged, portrait-format, 32” electronic display that runs on DAKboard’s cloud platform, and quietly conceals a BlumSafe, or any wall safe, or a wall nook, behind it. The Screen provides a cloud-connected display for your family photos, personal calendar, weather, traffic, stock prices and other data, while concealing your BlumSafe.
It looks like a beautiful wood-framed smart display. It functions like one, too. The fact that it swings open on invisible hinges to reveal a safe is the part nobody guesses, which is really the whole point. With our locking bar accessory, it locks to the wall so no one suspects it’s hiding a BlumSafe (opens by Bluetooth, RFID card, NFC or with a hub, by voice command).
The Home Assistant dashboard now built into every touchscreen BlumSafe Screen with TouchHub.
What the New TouchHub Upgrade Actually Adds
- Family Chores Manager: a shared digital chore chart where everyone in the house has their own space. Finish a chore, tap it. Chores earn points, points get cashed in for rewards you choose, and there’s a family leaderboard to keep things (mostly) friendly. (Essentials and Plus plans.)
- Child Lock: kids can check off their own chores without touching anyone else’s list.
- Home Assistant, as its own app (the feature I love most): controlling lights, locks, and thermostats from the wall finally feels like it’s supposed to. Available on every plan, including Free.
- A new dock: jump between calendar, photos, weather, and other screens with one tap.
- A Meal Planner, coming soon, for the nightly “what’s for dinner” scramble.
In other words: DAKboard just turned your Screen from a very good-looking display for your family photos, personal calendar, weather, traffic and stock prices (etc., etc.) into an actual family command center. No more whiteboard on the fridge that nobody wipes down. No more app on someone’s phone that the kids conveniently “can’t find.” It’s on the wall, where everyone already looks.
The Family Chores Manager: every kid gets their own list and their own points.
The Home Assistant dashboard: lighting, climate, energy, and more, room by room.
The family calendar: meal plan, weather, and every practice, game, and school date in one place.
In other words: DAKboard just turned your Screen from a very good-looking display for your family photos, personal calendar, weather, traffic and stock prices (etc., etc.) into an actual family command center. No more whiteboard on the fridge that nobody wipes down. No more app on someone’s phone that the kids conveniently “can’t find.” It’s on the wall, where everyone already looks
What “Smart Home Control” Actually Means Here
I asked DAKboard to get specific about this, because “one-tap smart home control” undersells it. Through TouchHub’s full embed of Home Assistant, the touchscreen Screen becomes a real Home Assistant dashboard, a genuine smart home dashboard for a home’s entire ecosystem, not just lights. Here’s the breakdown, straight from DAKboard:
| Category | What You Can Tap To Do | Popular Systems It Works With |
|---|---|---|
| Lighting & Power | Toggle on/off, dim with a slider, dial in color and temperature on RGB bulbs, control individual plugs and switches | Philips Hue, Lutron Caséta, LIFX, TP-Link Kasa, Shelly, and hundreds of Zigbee/Z-Wave devices |
| Climate & HVAC | Adjust target temperature, switch modes (Heat/Cool/Auto/Off), change fan speed | Ecobee, Google Nest, Honeywell, Sensibo, generic Z-Wave thermostats |
| Media & Audio | Play/pause/skip, volume sliders, switch input or source for TVs and speakers | Sonos, Spotify, Apple TV, Roku, Plex, Chromecast, HEOS |
| Security, Cameras & Access | Arm/disarm (PIN-protected), lock/unlock deadbolts, open/close garage doors, view live camera feeds | Ring, UniFi Protect, Yale, Schlage, Wyze, MyQ, Alarmo |
| Covers & Blinds | One-touch open/close, slider-based tilt and positioning | Somfy, IKEA FYRTUR, SwitchBot, Lutron Serena |
| Scenes & Automations | One-tap routines that trigger multiple devices at once: tap “Movie Mode” and the lights dim, the blinds close, and the TV turns on | Native Home Assistant Scripts, Scenes & Automations |
Source: DAKboard.
And because Home Assistant is open-source and constantly expanding, that table is really just a sample. The full catalog of supported integrations runs into the thousands. (If you want to check whether your own setup is covered before you buy, DAKboard’s integration list is at home-assistant.io/integrations.)
I love this because I’ve always been into home automation. My first home automation product was powerline X-10, back in the late 80s, and the Home Assistant setup I’ve put together since early COVID is so much easier and more reliable.
There’s a bit of symmetry here worth pointing out, since it’s the whole idea behind the Screen in the first place: the same wall-mounted tap that arms your alarm and locks your front door can also, on the very same wall, be quietly guarding whatever’s behind it. One device closing up the house AND doing the same job for your valuables.
Add the Screen with TouchHub to Your Existing BlumSafe Now
This is the thing I don’t think we’ve said clearly enough: you do not need to have ordered a Screen when you originally bought your BlumSafe. The Screen mounts to the wall on its own, over a BlumSafe (or another wall safe, or a nook) you’ve already installed, whenever you’re ready for it. No rewiring beyond what’s already in place for the safe, just tap into the power the BlumSafe is already using. If you bought your BlumSafe last year, five years ago, or ten years ago, and passed on the Screen at the time, that window is not closed. It’s still sitting right there, waiting.
One quick note on plans, since DAKboard was kind enough to clarify this for us: TouchHub itself, including the full Home Assistant control panel, is available on every DAKboard plan, including the free tier. The Family Chores Manager above (points, rewards, the leaderboard) is part of DAKboard’s Essentials and Plus plans. Worth knowing before you get the kids excited about the leaderboard.
Already Have the Original Screen?
TouchHub runs on the touchscreen version. If you have the original (non-touch) Screen, everything still works exactly as it always has. Nothing breaks, nothing changes. But if you’ve been on the fence about the touchscreen upgrade, this might be a good time to stop being on the fence. Between now and the start of the school year, checking off your kid’s chores, glancing at the family calendar, and dimming the lights before bed, all with a tap, on the same wall that’s quietly guarding your watches, your jewelry, or whatever else you keep in there, is a pretty good trade. And since a bit under 20% of our customers come back for a second BlumSafe within three years of purchase, you can rationalize that one too. It may be time to either move your old Screen somewhere else, even in front of a simple wall nook, or get your second BlumSafe, with Screen.
Get Yours
The Screen is available now, with or without the touchscreen upgrade, in maple, walnut, white oak, black, or white. If you already own a BlumSafe, adding a Screen is simpler than you’d think. Reach out and we’ll walk you through it. And if you’re new here, welcome. This is a good week to see what all the fuss is about.