Samsung has delivered a new update to SmartThings that shifts the platform’s position from just a feature-only app to an info + control center through the new SmartThings Now.
This is a set of cards sitting at the top of the Home tab that builds on Home Insight. It looks at your current situation and offers information you can act on right away. For example, if a Family Care member such as an older parent shows no device activity for a long stretch, a care card appears for the caregiver with options to check in or call. When you arrive near a home you’ve registered in the app, it suggests turning on lights and air purifiers ahead of time, then offers to turn that action into a routine once you’ve done it.
SmartThings Now also adapts to how you use your devices. It reviews the past week of activity and suggests changes to your Home tab Favorites, like dropping an air conditioner card as the weather cools or adding an AirDresser card when you start using it more often. A Routine Insight card lets you review a week of routine activity and delete ones you no longer need.
The Home tab itself has been reorganized into a cleaner layout covering dashboards, device cards, and service cards. Service cards are more space-efficient, so more of them fit on one screen along with status and numerical readings. A Live Wallpaper shifts through the day, and a new Floating Bar keeps frequently used features at the bottom of the screen for easier one-handed use on larger phones.
Interconnectivity is made more seamless through phone-to-SmartThings Hub connection, as when they are on the same Wi-Fi network, the phone can now talk to the hub directly instead of routing commands through the cloud. Samsung says this improves response times by about 30% and keeps devices controllable during temporary network hiccups or internet outages.
SmartThings switches between local and cloud control automatically depending on whether you’re home or away. The updated Offline Device Diagnostics page can also push new network information to all registered devices at once, making it easier to bring offline devices back.
Samsung has also added support for Matter 1.6, the latest smart home standard from the Connectivity Standards Alliance. It improves stability and Group Control performance and adds four new device categories:
- Energy Meters: real-time power monitoring
- Closures: specialized door and gate types
- Irrigation devices: such as sprinkler systems
- Soil Sensors: for measuring ground conditions
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