Samsung SmartThings update delivers a more proactive and responsive smart home

Samsung is giving SmartThings a more proactive makeover, with its latest update focused on making the smart home easier to navigate and a little less dependent on users constantly digging through menus via the new SmartThings Now. This thing resides at the top of the Home tab, alongside a redesigned interface and expanded local control capabilities.

The biggest change is SmartThings Now, which uses cards to surface relevant information and actions based on what is happening around the user.

For example, if a family member being monitored through Family Care hasn’t triggered any device activity for an extended period, SmartThings Now can surface a care card with options to check in or make a call. When a user approaches a pre-registered home location, it can also suggest turning on lights and air purifiers before they arrive.

There’s a small but useful touch here: after carrying out an action, SmartThings can suggest turning it into a routine. So instead of repeatedly telling the app what to do, users can gradually build automations around the things they already do.

SmartThings Now also looks at activity from the previous week to suggest changes to the Home tab’s Favorites. As seasons and usage patterns change, for instance, it could recommend removing an air conditioner card while adding an AirDresser that is seeing more use.

The redesigned Home tab itself puts dashboards, device cards, and service cards into a more streamlined layout. Service cards take up less space while still showing information such as device status and numerical readings. Samsung is also adding Live Wallpaper that changes throughout the day, along with a Floating Bar at the bottom of the screen for easier one-handed access to frequently used features.

Samsung is expanding SmartThings’ local control capabilities, so compatible devices can remain more responsive when the home network or external internet connection isn’t behaving.

When a phone and SmartThings Hub are connected to the same Wi-Fi network, the phone can communicate directly with the hub instead of sending commands through the cloud. Samsung says this can improve response times by around 30% compared with cloud-based control.

SmartThings can also switch automatically between local and cloud-based remote control depending on whether the user is at home or away. An updated Offline Device Diagnostics page makes it easier to bring devices back online by applying new network information across registered devices at once.

The update also adds support for Matter 1.6, the latest version of the smart home connectivity standard from the Connectivity Standards Alliance.

That brings four additional device categories to SmartThings: Energy Meters for real-time power monitoring, Closures for specialized doors and gates, Irrigation devices such as sprinklers, and Soil Sensors for monitoring ground conditions.