Samsung has announced a major update to its smart home platform, SmartThings. This update supports the Matter 1.2 standard, making it compatible with several new home appliance types. It also brings design improvements to the app and Routines you can share with others.
SmartThings update brings Matter 1.2 support
The upcoming SmartThings update will support the Matter 1.2 standard, which allows you to add more Matter-compatible home appliance types, including ACs, air purifiers, air quality sensors, dishwashers, fans, refrigerators, and robot vacuums. Matter 1.3 was released two months ago, but it isn't clear when Samsung will support it in SmartThings.
SmartThings already supports several of these smart home appliance types from Samsung, but this new support is for home appliances that are Matter compatible. Moreover, it already supports home devices from other brands, including Belkin, Bosch, Dacor, Danfoss, GE, Havells, Honeywell Home, IKEA, Philips Hue, Ring, Sharp, Sonos, Tapo, Wiz, Yale, and Yeelight, but through cloud integrations.
With native Matter integration, controls happen locally on the Matter Hub in your home, making them much faster and more responsive. Samsung is the first brand to bring support for Matter 1.2. While Amazon, Apple, and Google have brought support for Matter in their smart home systems, they haven't adopted the Matter 1.2 version yet.
A Samsung TV like the one in the video below can be your Matter Hub.
Samsung also announced a new system that allows you to set up multiple Matter Hubs in your home. When your primary hub fails, a secondary hub can take over and perform actions. Samsung's new Family Hub refrigerators, smart TVs, and soundbars can be set up as Matter Hubs, and since you may already have those devices in your home, the multi-hub system will be easier to set up.
SmartThings app also getting a UI refresh
SmartThings will also bring quick access Device Controls to the quick settings area of your Samsung phone or tablet. So, you can control your favorite smart home devices without opening the SmartThings app.
Samsung is also planning to reward users who use its SmartThings AI Energy Mode. This feature automatically adjusts the settings of compatible appliances to reduce power consumption. Those who save 400Wh of energy daily get an Energy Stamp each day. These Energy Stamps can be converted into Samsung Rewards, and those rewards can be used to buy products from Samsung's website.
The SmartThings app is also getting a design change. The Devices tab will now display Rooms as top-level tabs, so changing rooms can be done by swiping left or right. In the app's current version, you can switch rooms by clicking the drop-down menu.
Samsung says searching for compatible smart devices is also getting easier. You should now get the list of compatible devices nearby faster. The card for each device in the app will also have more glanceable information. For example, a door lock can display its locked or unlocked status.
The Routines you create in the SmartThings app can be shared with others through QR codes, which can be opened by the SmartThings app.
While these updates are significant, Samsung still hasn't announced whether it will make its own smart devices and home appliances compatible with Matter. So, it is unclear whether people can add Samsung devices to the smart home app or platform of their choice.
