The SmartThings Blog

Want to give new life to legacy Galaxy smartphones? Leveraging the power of SmartThings and repurposing built-in sensors within Galaxy devices, you can now turn old Galaxy phones into sound and light sensors. Here is how to start:  Onboard legacy phone Download the SmartThings app on your current phone. Tap the Menu (☰) and select “SmartApps” Select More Options (⋮) and choose SmartThings Labs* followed by Galaxy UpcycleClick on “Next” to generate a QR code.Scan the QR code with your legacy phone.Install the “Galaxy Upcycle” app on your legacy phone.Select either “Light sensor” or “Sound sensor” feature. Set up a “Light sensor” Tap “Light sensor” to add your legacy phone as a light sensor.Go back to your current phone and open the SmartThings app. The new light sensor will now be available on your device list. Tap the light sensor device card to see the current brightness level, scored out of 7 levels of brightness.Using Automations, you can now adjust your lighting based on the brightness level detected by the sensor.  Set up a “Sound sensor” Tap “Sound sensor” to add your legacy phone as a sound sensor.Go back to your current phone and open the SmartThings app. The new sound sensor will now be available on your device list. The sensor detects 5 types of sounds including baby crying, dog barking, cat meowing, glass breaking, and knock on door.Using Automations, you can now control your devices using the sounds detected by the sensor.  *SmartThings Lab uses experimental features. Some features may only be available for certain devices, models, or countries. Some features may be removed or changed without notice. 

SmartThings continues to enhance the user experience and we are pleased to officially unveil SmartThings Labs.SmartThings Labs is an added service within the current SmartThings app, offering advanced access to upcoming features for consumers to test ahead of official release. SmartThings Labs also includes features such as providing real-time feedback directly to engineers and compatibility with other Works with SmartThings devices.To kick off the debut of SmartThings Labs, users will be able to test the following services: Universal Remote control: Control multiple devices on a single screen, scrolling through different connected devicesVirtual Switch: Create switches that can be used in scenes and automation without buying actual devicesTV Quick Control: Add TV Control widget on the notification panel and lock screen on your phone.Device as a Bluetooth Keyboard: Users can key input into their televisions and accompanying apps through a Bluetooth keyboard. Make typing on any device a breeze. SmartThings Labs features seamlessly integrates into Works With SmartThings devices. Users simply open up the SmartThings app, tap the menu bar within, select SmartApps, and finally, tap on the “More” menu to select SmartThings Labs to be automatically connected to features that are currently being tested. Along with the four above-mentioned features, there will be a total of eight features available in the US, and seven in Korea. Among the upcoming features, users will have the ability to use old Galaxy devices as monitors and cameras as part of Samsung’s upcycling program.For more information about SmartThings Labs or to learn how to join the program, please visit: https://www.smartthings.com/partners/smartthings-labs

Note: We are in talks with Logitech Harmony to improve this integration and should be releasing changes that greatly enhance its performance and reliability soon. Please stay tuned, and thank you for your patience. – The SmartThings Product team We’re very excited to announce the newest addition to SmartThings Labs: Logitech Harmony. By combining the power of Harmony and the SmartThings open platform, you can now seamlessly integrate your smart home with your home entertainment system to control and automate 270,000 devices from more than 6,000 brands. Smart Home Entertainment This SmartThings Labs integration allows you to control the Harmony activities of your favorite home entertainment devices directly from your SmartThings app. By connecting SmartThings and Harmony, you can initiate Harmony activities via SmartThings triggers. For example: • Turn on Cable TV When I Return Home • Turn off the Stereo When I Leave • Turn on My PlayStation or Xbox When I Change to Game Mode • ...and much more These on/off Harmony actions can be initiated with the following SmartThings triggers: • mode change • contact sensor opens/closes • acceleration detected • motion starts/stops • switch turned on/off • person, pet, or car arrives/departs • button press • scheduled time You can also control SmartThings-powered lights and switches directly from the new Harmony Home Control remote. Here are just a few of the thousands of things that are now possible: • Turn on the local news or the Weather Channel on your TV each morning as you wake up • Trigger your TV to turn on automatically when you come home from work each day, and to turn off when you leave the house • Set your Sonos to automatically play a certain station or playlist when you open a door • If you've already set up a SmartThings Movie Time mode (or something similar), you can now also trigger a "Play DVD" activity so that the movie starts playing at the same time as the lights dim. • Invite David Blaine over to your home. Tell him that because of a magical gift that you've been born with, you have the power to turn on your TV, play a movie, or blast the stereo just by moving this here frame on the wall. Move that frame, and blast that stereo. Impress David Blaine. Go on tour with David Blaine. Become best friends with David Blaine. Setup: To integrate SmartThings with Harmony, you'll need one of three new products that Harmony recently unveiled: the Harmony Home Hub, the Harmony Home Control, or the Harmony Ultimate Home. An important note: To access the SmartThings integration, existing Harmony customers will need to upgrade their firmware. Logitech tells us that upgrade will be available in the coming months and that there will be a small fee associated with it. If you have further questions about this forthcoming firmware update, please contact Logitech.   For new Harmony customers, we've put together a series of videos guiding you through the setup process. First, you'll want to use the Logitech Harmony app to set up your Harmony Hub with SmartThings, like this: After you've set this up, you can follow this video to begin controlling your SmartThings-powered lights and switches using the Harmony app: Next, you'll want to use the SmartThings app to set up and trigger different Harmony Activities: And now you're all set to begin using SmartThings Labs to integrate your smart home with your home entertainment setup. Ahem... world's first smart wall-mounted TV, anyone?  What is SmartThings Labs? SmartThings Labs gives customers access to a curated group of popular third-party devices and services that can work together with SmartThings while they’re still in development. These new product solutions are created by our in-house team, as well as by our growing community of software developers. Together, they make it easier than ever to control all of the connected devices in your home with the SmartThings iOS and Android apps. As our engineering team works to fine-tune these integrated products and solutions with our platform, they may move from SmartThings Labs into more prominent sections of the SmartThings Dashboard to make way for new integrations and features in Labs. Since Labs is all about experimenting, you may notice that some product features aren’t fully polished yet. If you do experience any performance issues, we’d love to hear your feedback to help improve things–just shoot us a note at support@smartthings.com. SmartThings Labs is open for all SmartThings customers. To access it, tap the "+" icon at the bottom of the SmartThings Dashboard to go to SmartSetup. Then, scroll to the right to find the "More" category, where SmartThings Labs is located.

We're very excited to announce the newest additions to SmartThings Labs: the Netatmo Indoor and Outdoor Weather Stations. This latest SmartThings Labs integration represents the power of the open SmartThings Platform, and was created by a developer from the SmartThings community: Brian Steere. By combining the powers of SmartThings with Netatmo, your safer, smarter home can also be a healthier home. (more…)

Welcome to our third installment of “Hello, Smart Home,” a new video series where we head inside customers’ houses and apartments to see how they’re using SmartThings to secure their homes, gain peace of mind, and fit their lifestyle. Today, we meet Daniel, a product manager who rents a unit in an old, historic rowhouse with his wife and German shepherd. C'mon inside and watch as Daniel shows off some cool new features–including our Dropcam integration. (more…)

A mother and father use SmartThings to keep an eye on their 3-year-old son–even when they can't see him. (more…)

We’re very excited to announce another addition to SmartThings Labs: Belkin WeMo Light Switch. In January, SmartThings announced support for the Belkin WeMo Motion and WeMo Switch and, more recently we announced Labs integrations with TCP Lighting, Quirky’s Pivot Power Genius, and ecobee thermostats. With this latest Labs integration, you can use your SmartThings iOS or Android app to conveniently control your WeMo Light Switch.   How to Integrate Your WeMo Switch Into SmartThings From within the existing WeMo Connect SmartApp, while searching for WeMo devices, there is a new area at the bottom that says: "Select Wemo Light Switches (# found)."  If you have a WeMo Light Switch connected to your WiFi network, you simply select it, and it will be created as a SmartThings device. [caption id="attachment_3745" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Belkin WeMo Light Switch & WeMo Connect SmartApp in SmartThings Labs[/caption] What is SmartThings Labs? SmartThings Labs gives customers early access to a curated group of popular third-party devices and services that can work together with SmartThings. These new product solutions are created by our in-house team, as well as by our growing community of software developers. Together, they make it easier than ever to control all of the connected devices in your home with the SmartThings iOS and Android apps. If you’re interested in gaining access to SmartThings Labs, follow the easy instructions in our getting started guide. As our engineering team works to fine-tune these integrated products and solutions with our platform, they may move from Labs into more prominent sections of our app to make way for new integrations and features in the SmartThings Labs. While we work to polish the edges of the different products and solutions in our Labs, customers may experience a few performance issues (after all, it is called Labs).

When an easy and open smart home automation platform, a wireless HiFi stereo system, and vibrant LED light bulbs love one another and want to express those feelings, they come together and create something beautiful. We’re excited to announce five new integrations born in the SmartThings Labs. These latest features make using Philips hue and Sonos easier and more fun than ever. (more…)

We’re very excited to announce three new additions to SmartThings Labs: TCP Lighting, Quirky Pivot Power Genius, and ecobee. Two of these new integrations were created by a prolific developer in SmartThings’ growing community, Todd Wackford. As such, these latest additions to SmartThings Labs represent the power and flexibility of our open platform, and showcase how all customers benefit when builders and makers come together to create new ways to use SmartThings. (more…)

Engadget stopped by the #HelloSmartHome at this year's CES to see how SmartThings Labs is propelling the connected home to a whole new level. Look for some cool and useful integrations with Sonos, Belkin WeMo, and Philips hue, as well as a few yet-to-be-released integrations with great brands like Jawbone, August, and Ubi.