Samsung has announced a fresh new interface for its SmartThings smart home platform. Part of the company’s new approach to focusing on the software and cloud infrastructure vs hardware (hubs).
Earlier this year they teamed up with Aeotec, who will be making the SmartThings hubs from this point forward–with the chance that this arrangement might expand to other companies in the future through similar licensing/use arrangements.
You can already see that Samsung has been putting its time to good use with the updates that are rolling out for the app. The new app focuses on simplifying the layout so that it will be more user-friendly. It breaks everything down into five sections from the main screen.
- Favorites: This is where you will be able to customize your own homepage with your favorite devices, services, and scenes, all in one place.
- Devices: As you’d expect, this is a section listing all of your smart devices on the network that are connected to SmartThings. They get broken down by room, which you can navigate between by swiping back and forth.
- Life: Samsung lists here a number of ways to automate your life or make things better. It offers a number of options here like Smartthings Find, SmartThings Cooking, SmartThings Air, and Home Care Wizard.
- Automations: This is where you create all of your routines to automate your smart home.
- Menu: Finally, this is where settings are located, along with other features like notifications, history, and SmartThings Labs.
It looks like it will be given a more modern feel with this update that brings it up to par with some of the (other) popular options out there. The new update should be rolling out for Android users soon, with iOS coming soon. Likely, the Windows 10 app will be included as well (eventually), however, no word has been shared by Samsung about this just yet.
SmartThings is growing to become one of the most powerful cloud-based smart home platforms in existence. With an impressive list of compatibilities stretching into so many ecosystems, including support for Z-Wave, Zigbee, and even the upcoming Matter (previously known as Project Chip).
