The SmartThings Blog

Tech of today no longer works alone. Smart applications have become engrossed in multitudes of different devices, including watches, phones, headphones, televisions, and more. They all work together, so if one of them is missing, users can lose out on features. We’re thrilled to introduce SmartThings Find, a tool used to locate missing Galaxy devices, all through the SmartThings app! Leveraging Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and ultra-wideband (UWB) technologies to locate smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, and earbuds – even down to each individual bud – SmartThings Find is the tool you’ve been waiting for. SmartThings users will complete a brief registration process to link their devices together. Through the SmartThings app, all devices are organized in one place, making it as simple as tapping the device you are looking for to bring up information on its location. What if your device lost its battery power, or is in a location where there is no service like a basement? With SmartThings Find, offline no longer means “offline”! SmartThings users now have the option to use their device to securely locate an offline one. When a device has been “offline” (either dead, or in a dead zone) for 30 minutes, a BLE signal is released that can then be found by other devices as well. But – it does not just stop with friends. If you report a device missing, ANY Galaxy tablet or phone can opt in to help you. In addition, SmartThings Find offers features like the ability to ping a device when searching for it in a room or specific area, and also integrates map directions so you can get the precise location. There is also an AR feature for nearby searching, which will display different color hues as you are getting closer to the device, perfect for being stuck in hard to reach or see places. SmartThings Find is available for all Galaxy smartphones, tablets, and other devices running Android 8 or later.

Our ecosystem continues to grow and we’re pleased to share that SmartThings will power Mercedes-Benz’s latest smart home function, giving drivers and passengers unprecedented ability to use their vehicle as a control center for the home. The new Mercedes-Benz S-Class is the first native in-car voice assistant system to be integrated into a smart home platform. We’re thrilled to offer drivers, as well as passengers, remote connectivity to thousands of intelligent devices made by hundreds of brands supported by SmartThings’ open IoT ecosystem. Recognizing the evolution of IoT, this announcement is the first of several showcasing our strategy to take a technology-first approach, to bring smart functionality and capabilities everywhere consumers want to be. Car-to-home experiences represent yet another step in creating a universal smart home standard while simplifying development for manufacturers and increasing compatibility for consumers. By unlocking the vast power of the SmartThings platform, Mercedes-Benz customers will enjoy first-of-their-kind capabilities when they leave their house or are heading home after a long day at work. Drivers and passengers can seamlessly connect and control many aspects of their home environment including lights, locks, thermostats, electric outlets, garage door openers, sensors, and home security systems, all through Mercedes-Benz’s integrated voice assistant.  Using natural language, such as “Hey Mercedes, did I forget to turn off my lights at home?” to “Hey Mercedes, is anyone at home?”, the MBUX Voice Assistant minimizes distraction, allowing drivers to focus on the road in front of them and know that everything is alright at home. Additionally, passengers in the rear seats can also enjoy the full scope of the smart home integration and interact with their smart homes. SmartThings unlocks endless possibilities of connectivity from within the car and while inside the home.  From monitoring an elderly loved one to being alerted about a grocery item when you’re driving by a store, SmartThings’ integration with Mercedes-Benz adds to the robust features of the luxury car. Bridging the gap between car and home, SmartThings offers the reliability that drivers trust. SmartThings technology will be available in Mercedes-Benz vehicles, starting with the S-Class, beginning in 2021.

SmartThings is forging ahead with plans to accelerate the creation of an open IoT ecosystem powered by its technology. Earlier this year, we shared our plans to partner with companies that are leaders in the smart-home-automation space to manufacture and distribute SmartThings compatible hardware. We are pleased to announce that SmartThings and Aeotec are expanding our partnership in both the United States and European markets, furthering the innovative SmartThings portfolio in over 200 countries. Aeotec Group has been a valued Works With SmartThings (WWST) partner for many years, as well as a recognized leader in design and development of SmartHome devices. Now, Aeotec and their European partner company, Z-Wave Europe GmbH, will add a “Works As a SmartThings Hub” (WASH) device, new sensors, cameras, and other Zigbee devices to its offerings. Beginning in Q1 2021, SmartThings and Aeotec will conduct joint activities to incentivize upgrades, including special offers for long-time SmartThings customers. Together with Aeotec, we are committed to maintaining, extending, and enhancing our portfolio for customers around the world. What does this mean for customers? SmartThings will continue to provide lasting support to current device and platform users. While moving forward, Aeotec Group will support their hardware with the same standard our customers have come to expect. New customers with the Aeotec Smart Home Hub will be able to leverage the powerful SmartThings automations to create rich smart home experiences with our WWST products. This includes everything from the Aeotec Sensors to Buttons and Cams. With more than 63 million active users – and growing each day – SmartThings’ evolution beyond these hubs and sensors allows us to focus on innovating and creating differentiated experiences. We are committed to working with partners to bring smart home functionality and capabilities everywhere consumers want to be, spanning over 5,000 devices including mobile phones, appliances, TVs, and more. Our strategy as an open platform is to leverage leading hardware manufacturers to integrate our technology into new product lines – adding to the thousands of Samsung and WWST certified devices found in millions of homes. Aeotec has been a partner of SmartThings since 2013, and together have grown alongside one another to help build up SmartThings as the dominant smart home player. Our partnership builds upon Aeotec’s world-class experience and commitment to quality in manufacturing smart home devices. We are pleased to collaborate with a company that customers trust and excited to continue bringing SmartThings into every home around the world.

Second to your home, your vehicle is probably one of your most sophisticated and prized devices. However, your smart home and connected car never got the chance to officially meet, until now. During CES 2020, Samsung’s industry leading IoT platform, SmartThings, unveiled an exclusive partnership with Smartcar, the first and only car API for mobility applications. In an industry first, SmartThings will deliver “car” as a capability.  Working with Smartcar, SmartThings users will be able to control both their home and their car through one platform, adding to the 5,000 devices and hundreds of third party partners that already work with SmartThings. Smart homes and connected cars have always lived in separate ecosystems, each with their own services and devices. Smartcar’s technology will allow you to locate and unlock your car, read a vehicle’s mileage, fuel tank, or EV battery level, and more - direct from the SmartThings app. Through this partnership, Samsung SmartThings is the only IoT platform that will integrate with most new cars in the United States for our millions of active users.     Imagine driving home after a long day at work waiting to relax and meditate.  As you turn the corner of your block, the garage door opens automatically, the air conditioner turns on, the lights are dimmed, and you enter into a peaceful room full of zen – all without saying a word or making a command.   SmartThings is committed to expanding its open ecosystem, working with the most popular brands and devices to give consumers choice, peace of mind, all while technology sits in the background – allowing your home to take care of you and your family, whether you’re home or not. Stay tuned for more updates from Samsung’s SmartThings as Smartcar functionality rolls out early this year.

Amazon and SmartThings have added a little more smartness to your home! We’re excited to announce a new feature for Alexa that works with SmartThings; now Alexa can tell you the status of your smart lock and can lock the door for you! (Alexa won’t unlock the door for security reasons.) Not only can you monitor your smart lock from anywhere with SmartThings, you can ask Alexa to help without picking up your phone. Find out how to add the Smart Home skill to SmartThings here. There are plenty of compatible “Works with SmartThings” locks to use with voice control including models from including Yale, Kwikset and Schlage, so don’t worry about locking the front door when you have your hands full. And making sure you’ve secured the door is as easy as asking Alexa, no need to find your phone or get up to check. Use Amazon Echo and SmartThings to lock up your home, save a little time, and rest a little easier knowing peace of mind is just a phrase away. Wherever you are, in your kitchen, in bed, or in your captain's chair giving orders to your futuristic voice-controlled home, locking your door is as easy as saying “Alexa, lock my front door.”

Samsung SmartThings and Google have teamed up to bring you Home Control with Google Pixel and Android Wear devices! SmartThings is the only complete smart home platform to work with Home Control. Now you can control many of your SmartThings devices with the Google Assistant. Just speak a command to your Pixel phone or Wear device to interact with SmartThings, from dimming the lights in your living room to turning on the porch light. While voice control using Google Home is fun, the power comes when you’re on the go. Control your home from your wrist or mobile phone wherever you happen to be in the world. Check that things are safe and secure, adjust your lights, change the temperature, or any number of other convenient controls. Imagine you just received a message that a family member is heading home early, you can just say "Ok Google, set the thermostat to 70." and make sure they come home to a warm house. If you want to make sure they don't have to fumble for the lights when they come in just say "Hey Google, turn on all the lights in the living room." Ran out the door last minute and not sure if you turned off that one last light? Just ask Google to turn off the lights and enjoy the rest of your day without worrying about it. Perhaps you’re all settled in for the night and you realize the lights downstairs are still on, Google and SmartThings can take care of that, no need to get up! It’s never been easier to control your smart home than with Google Home Control and SmartThings. It’s in the palm of your hand (or on your wrist!) no matter where you are, and with dozens of SmartThings supported devices you have a wide range of flexibility to grow your smart house. Turning the light on is simple: just say “Hey Google!”

Official Rules: 2017 SmartThings Giveaway THIS PROMOTION IS A SWEEPSTAKES. NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING. THE PROMOTION IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, AND ALL APPLICABLE FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS APPLY. All federal, state and local taxes are the sole responsibility of the winner. (more…)

At SmartThings we’ve always prided ourselves on being open and honest with our community–and sometimes that hurts. To be as transparent as possible, we’d rather tell you the good (and the bad) when we can. With that said, we have several unpleasant announcements: Migration Tool In 2014, we announced the SmartThings v2 Hub as the next generation Hub to replace our initial Kickstarter product. At that time, we were hard at work on a “migration tool” to help users who wanted to transition from the original Hub to the newer model. Unfortunately, after several false starts, we’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not feasible to reliably transfer settings and devices from the first version Hub to the newer model. With that, we are no longer planning to deliver a Hub v1 to Hub v2 migration tool. We regret that we can’t deliver on our initial promise, but in order to release a migration tool we needed it to deliver a great experience. We found it would be extremely difficult to automatically exclude and shift devices to the new Hub, and we’re unable to meet the expectations we set. Our goal is to always deliver the best mix of features and customer experience, and we regret that we’re letting some of our most loyal customers down. Windows Phone App We also regret to announce that version 1.7.0 of the SmartThings app for Windows Phone will be the last major release for the Windows Phone OS. We are no longer able to provide the desired level of updates and support for this platform and have made the tough decision to discontinue Windows phone development. Version 1.7.0 now offers support for Windows 10 features. Barring unforeseen issues, this version will continue to function (with Windows Phone 10 Anniversary update). On April 1, 2017 version 1.7.0 will be removed from the Windows app store, and it will no longer be possible to download it and install it onto a new device. We will continue to offer technical support through June 2017 for existing users. SmartApp Curation Finally, over the next few months, we will be removing SmartApps from the Marketplace that are no longer updated or supported by their developers. We will notify, where possible, the SmartApp developer beforehand, and help existing SmartApp users find alternatives. SmartThings did not make any of these decisions lightly, and we understand that we are disappointing some of our users. However, these changes allow us to continue to focus on other products and services to help the whole of our community.  

Official Rules: 2016 SmartThings Giveaway THIS PROMOTION IS A SWEEPSTAKES. NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING. THE PROMOTION IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, AND ALL APPLICABLE FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS APPLY. All federal, state and local taxes are the sole responsibility of the winner. (more…)

Official Rules: 2016 SmartThings Giveaway THIS PROMOTION IS A SWEEPSTAKES. NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING. THE PROMOTION IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, AND ALL APPLICABLE FEDERAL, STATE AND LOCAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS APPLY. All federal, state and local taxes are the sole responsibility of the winner. (more…)