Samsung SmartThings Guide: Use the app, features and hubs for a better smart home

For the smart home aficionado with a few light bulbs, a lock, and a couple plugged-in outlets, a smart speaker can act as a hub to help your devices work together.

But for a truly smart home you need a true smart home hub and ecosystem; and Samsung’s SmartThings is not only the original, it is widely considered the best.

While Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant, and Amazon’s Alexa are all great ecosystems in their own ways, what makes SmartThings great is their inclusion.

Almost everything runs on SmartThings, and while Samsung used to develop its own line of SmartThings devices, its real strength is that you can add virtually any Wi-Fi, Zigbee, or Z-Wave device to this hub and control everything from a single app.

Of course, it’s also a major player in the Matter smart home initiative, making it one of the best drivers for its smart home devices.

What is SmartThings?

SmartThings is not only a central place to control all your devices, but it also knows how to communicate with all those devices and how to make them work together.

So if you have a Yale Z-Wave door lock and a Philips Hue Zigbee smart bulb, you can pair them with SmartThings and turn on the light when you get home.

It’s not the most intuitive system out there, but it is one of the most stable, and if you’re willing to put a little time and effort into setting everything up, you’ll be well rewarded with a proper smart home. .

Whether you’re interested in investing in SmartThings’ wide range of hardware or have already purchased a SmartThings starter kit, here’s our guide on how to use it all.

Who should buy Samsung SmartThings?

SmartThings used to be for true tech lovers, and while it’s still the best option for home geeks, the app’s easy-to-use updates since Samsung took over the product have definitely made it a more viable mainstream option. .

However, it is still not for everyone. The relative openness of its platform compared to most of the competition creates some headaches, especially when it comes to pairing devices, but if you opt for certified devices compatible with SmartThings, your path will be easier.

However, that’s also somewhat misleading now, since you can no longer buy SmartThings devices, at least those made by Samsung.

Is Samsung SmartThings discontinued?

Yes and no. In recent years, we’ve seen the slow death of the legacy ‘classic’ SmartThings app, the launch of SmartThings Labs, and the commitment to Matter.

We’ve also seen the first launch of a third-party SmartThings Hub, from Aeotec, and the announcement that the original first-generation SmartThings Hub is no longer supported.

It’s almost impossible to buy Samsung SmartThings-branded hardware now, although Aotec has basically picked up the slack and is filling those Samsung SmartThings-shaped holes with a range of SmartThings-compatible smart sensors.

However, Samsung’s message is pretty clear: SmartThings is now focused on being an ecosystem.

What devices work with SmartThings?

There are literally hundreds of different products that work with SmartThings, including burglar alarms, smoke detectors, doorbells, light bulbs, garage doors, kitchen appliances, sound bars, robot vacuums, surveillance cameras, thermostats, door locks, speakers and more. It’s easily the most comprehensive smart home ecosystem out there.

While you can get almost anything with a compatible radio to integrate with your SmartThings hub, the easiest option is to choose devices that are certified to Work with SmartThings. Simply look for the logo on the package and you can rest assured that installation will be easy and seamless.

Some of the names you’ll be interested in include Ring, Amazon Echo, Arlo, Sonos, Honeywell, Ecobee, Bose, Philips Hue, WeMo, Yale, Lifx, Innr, Lutron, and many more.

And remember, just because an item isn’t officially labeled “Powered by SmartThings” doesn’t mean it won’t be, it just takes a little extra work.

SmartThings is a key part of the new Matter smart home platform, and if you’re choosing to add Matter devices to SmartThings, the good news is that it’s all pretty easy.

If you’re already using a SmartThings system, you probably already have a Matter controller; The SmartThings Hubs v2 and v3 and the Aeotec Smart Home Hub work very well with Matter.

But here’s the catch: the v2 hub doesn’t support Matter over Thread, so it’s a Wi-Fi-only offering.

There’s also the Samsung SmartThings Station and some of those fancy Samsung refrigerators and smart TVs can also act as Matter controllers.

What doesn’t work with SmartThings

As we mentioned above, some Z-Wave and Zigbee devices are not natively supported by SmartThings, but this doesn’t mean you’re out of luck and there are some workarounds depending on your device.

The Bluetooth radio on the SmartThings Hub is only for initial setup, so you can’t make any Bluetooth accessories work with SmartThings, which rules out most HomeKit devices unless you add them as Matter devices within SmartThings.

Getting started with SmartThings

Aeotec SmartThings Center

Buy now: Amazon

In June 2020, SmartThings revealed that major changes were coming to its platform on both the hardware and software fronts. The demise of the Classic app was the start of that, and in March 2021, it was announced that a lot of hardware would be removed as well.

Since the v3 Hub is so scarce (you’ll be hard-pressed to find it on sale anywhere right now), people have another option: Aeotec’s SmartThings Hub is essentially the v3 but with different branding.

We can expect to see many more ‘Works As a SmartThings Hub’ (WASH) devices from third-party brands in the future, as SmartThings expands the program.

The hub is the brains of the operation and creates a wireless network to connect and communicate with all your smart home devices. Simply plug it in and add it to your Wi-Fi network or connect via an Ethernet cable.

Guide: The best hubs for the smart home

You can then pair any ZigBee, Z-Wave, Matter, and Wi-Fi (non-Bluetooth) devices and start monitoring, controlling, and automating your home using the SmartThings app (Android or iPhone).

The big advantage of SmartThings as a hub is that it includes ZigBee and Z-Wave radios. These protocols are considered some of the best ways to connect smaller, less conspicuous smart home devices, such as sensors and light bulbs. These are the devices that help your smart home run smoothly: a motion sensor will turn on the lights, a contact sensor can activate an automation or a scene without you needing to press a button or give a command.

Z-Wave and ZigBee devices also create their own mesh networks, using every sensor and light bulb in your home to leverage and extend their range. This means you get better coverage throughout your home (without devices disconnecting, especially compared to Bluetooth). Additionally, the Wi-Fi network you use to browse the Internet is not clogged by smart devices. Additionally, because they are not dependent on the Internet, ZigBee and Z-wave based routines and scenes will run even if the Internet is down.

Wi-Fi SmartThings

Buy now: Amazon

If you are also looking for a mesh home Wi-Fi system, SmartThings Wifi is a smart home hub and Wi-Fi router in one. For a smart home, this extends the range of your devices and, thanks to software developed by Plume, intelligently manages the amount of bandwidth your devices use. According to the company, the system adapts to your Internet usage by taking into account all your connected devices and selecting the optimal frequency band and channel to give you the fastest speed.

You can purchase a single SmartThings Wifi unit to be a hub and router in one, but to take advantage of the mesh features you’ll need the three-pack. Obviously, the benefit of this is that you can cover your home with full coverage, with each node providing a range of around 1,500 square feet.

Read our full SmartThings Wifi review

The SmartThings App

Once your hub is set up, you’ll want to get comfortable with the SmartThings app. You’ll use it to add your new devices, control your devices, set up scenes, automations and groups, and generally manage all your smart home needs.

For a while, the app situation on SmartThings was a bit confusing, thanks to there being two apps with different functionality. But now the original classic app will be officially retired and all features will be moved to the main SmartThings app.

The new, now flagship SmartThings app has gone through some shaky iterations, but thanks to the most recent update it’s now a solid, full-featured app with a great user interface and a pretty good experience throughout.

There are still some areas that could use some work (adding multiple devices to rooms, for example, and differentiating between groups and rooms), but these are minor niggles.

How to configure your SmartThings

Once you have all the equipment in place, you’ll need to connect your devices to your hub and then start playing with Automations (previously called Routines), setting up Scenes, and diving into everything the SmartThings ecosystem has to offer. For all the details, keep reading.

How to connect devices to SmartThings

Fortunately, this process is much easier and more streamlined than ever. Just open the app and press the plus button on the top right corner of the app and choose Add device.

You can then scan your device’s QR code, search for nearby devices, or manually add Samsung-branded or third-party devices and follow the steps from there.

Obviously, it’s easier if you have the QR code, whether it’s SmartThings or Matter, but it’s not too difficult to manually find and add a device if you don’t have the code handy.

Simply tap the brand name, then select the type of device you have (i.e. motion sensor), choose which room your device is located in, and follow the pairing instructions.

SmartThings is also smart enough to know when a new device has appeared on the network, so sometimes all you need to do is connect your device and SmartThings will ask you to pair it automatically.

How to group your gadgets

The first thing you should do to properly automate your home is group your gadgets. This makes it much easier to control everything with a single command.

There are two ways to group your devices, use Lighting groups and Accommodation. You’ll want to place all your devices in individual rooms (including lights) and then you can also add individual lighting groups for quick access to turning all the lights in a room on or off.

To create a lighting group from the Devices screen, press the plus button and choose Create lighting group. You can group all the lights into one, separate them by labels, such as down and up, or use whatever settings work for you.

To create a room, follow the same steps, then enter the room and press Add devices. When you add devices to your system, you are also prompted to add them to a room.

Once set up, you can access all your lighting groups and rooms on the main page of the app and rearrange them so that your favorites appear first.

How to configure Routines/Automations

Routines (until very recently called Automations) make your smart home sing, and while they can be a little complicated to set up, they’re worth the initial effort. Using basic If This Then That language in the SmartThings app, you can connect any of your devices to create a routine.

Routines are activated based on one or more conditions. These include the time of day, the status of a device (a motion sensor detects motion), your location or that of your family members, and the mode of your SmartThings system (Away, Night, or Home or a security mode ; see below for more information on modes). ). So, for example, you can make something happen only when you’re at home, motion is detected, and it’s after 6 p.m.

In addition to controlling devices, routines can also send a notification, text message, or play an alert on a connected speaker, as well as change the mode of your home. You can add as many Conditions (If) and Actions (Then) as you want to create your Routines.

Pro tip: Make sure you go to Settings and allow the app to use your phone’s location; This allows you to set up automations based on GPS location so you can create one that turns off the house when you leave for work, for example. If you add family members to the app and enable their location, you can customize routines; so play this song when mom opens the front door.

Home monitor, smart modes and apps explained

SmartThings Home Monitor is a way to use your connected devices as a self-monitoring home security system that you can do yourself.

Once your devices are connected to SmartThings, all relevant sensors, including motion sensors, contact sensors, smoke alarms, and leak detectors, will appear in the SmartThings Home Monitor tab. You can then choose what to use to activate a security alert based on the status of your monitoring system: Away Arm, Stay Arm, or Disarm.

You manage Home Monitor in the Life section accessed with the icon at the bottom.

Modes have been a part of SmartThings since its inception. Originally designed as three pre-configured options, they configure your home to react differently depending on whether you’re home, away, or it’s nighttime. For example, you may want a light to turn on when a motion sensor detects motion at night, but not during the day. Basically, Modos is a way to make sure your smart home doesn’t seriously piss off your partner.

Modes have moved from the original SmartThings app to the new app and can be added to Routines. Mode settings are done automatically when you add your location, but can be managed by tapping the my house at the top of the screen and selecting Manage location.

Smart apps are out-of-the-box automations that you can easily adapt to your home, created by Samsung and other developers. They are designed for easy setup of common automations, such as activating smart lights. There used to be a Marketplace accessible from the app that was full of these pre-written recipes for home automation, but they’ve largely disappeared in the new app, with only a handful of non-Samsung recipes remaining.

How to use SmartThings with IFTTT

IFTTT is a web-based service that allows you to create your own automation recipes that can include smart homes, social networks, weather, other web services, other smart devices, and almost anything you can think of with an IP connection.

IFTTT is particularly useful for SmartThings users because there are variables for Automations that are simply not available as options within the SmartThings app. So, for example, there’s an IFTTT recipe that will set off the alarm if a hurricane is on the way, or one that will turn on the lights during the day if rain is forecast. Check out the SmartThings channel on the IFTTT website to see everything that’s available. There is enough.

SmartThings Integrations

How to set up SmartThings with Alexa and Google Assistant

If Samsung’s Bixby voice assistant isn’t your thing (i.e. you don’t have a Samsung phone or a Family Hub refrigerator), you can still control your home with your voice by linking your system to Amazon’s Alexa or Google Assistant.

With Alexa connected to SmartThings you can use your voice to control light bulbs, on/off switches, dimmer switches, thermostats, and locks. You can also use the voice assistant to run your SmartThings automations or create Alexa routines using all your SmartThings devices (for security reasons, only automations and routines that control lighting devices, switches, and thermostats will work).

Alexa will also work with your sensors: “Alexa, is there movement in the bedroom? or “Alexa, is the front door open?” Virtually any motion, contact, or temperature sensor connected through SmartThings to Alexa can be used to activate Alexa routines.

Google’s capabilities are more limited, but for basic voice control it works well. You can control lighting, outlets, and thermostats, and also run automations that trigger thermostats and lighting actions, SmartThings Home Monitor door locking and arming, and mode changes.

SmartThings on your wrist

The SmartThings app is available on Apple Watch and Samsung smartwatches.

In each of them, you can choose to receive notifications about all events in your smart home, such as when doors open, when people come and go, when alarms sound, when motion is detected, etc.

More importantly, you will also be able to activate your basic routines from your wrist. Therefore, you don’t need to look for your phone to relax and switch to night mode.

What is webCoRE?

Despite the move away from branded hardware, the SmartThings platform is actually much more “consumer friendly” than before. Much to the chagrin of a large portion of the SmartThings/webCoRE community, SmartThings is making things much more closed-minded compared to the platform it was born from and the community that evolved from it.

If you’re wondering what exactly webCoRE (the web community’s own rules engine) is?) is; the official description is:

webCoRE is an advanced web-based rules engine that runs on the Samsung SmartThing automation platform and offers complex automation scenarios that users can program. It does this by using a pseudo scripting language that is easy for users to read and understand.

It works by allowing users to create scripts that are interpreted and executed by the SmartThings SmartApp, allowing complex decisions to be made.

A free add-on for SmartThings, this powerful system gives you a complete programming language that lets you control your home exactly the way you want. This isn’t for beginners, but once you master the basics, it’s surprisingly easy to create fairly complex automations.

However, things have gotten a little more difficult since SmartThings, as mentioned, removed the Classic app at the end of 2020.

If all that goes a little over your head or you just don’t care; Alright. It’s very easy to get started with SmartThings without even considering its past or the huge community of “hobbyists” that lives parallel to the more “regular” user.

Even if you’ve already invested in a smart home ecosystem like HomeKit, Alexa, or Google, SmartThings can be a great addition and is an easy way to recharge your smart home.