Summary

Samsung’s SmartThings update adds personalized SmartThings Now cards, redesigns the app’s Home tab and expands local control between phones and hubs. Samsung says local control can improve response times by about 30% compared with cloud-based control.

Samsung has announced a SmartThings platform update that puts personalized SmartThings Now cards at the top of the app’s Home tab, refreshes the tab’s layout and expands local control between mobile devices and SmartThings hubs. The company says the platform has 470 million registered users and supports more than 430 Works with SmartThings-certified brands worldwide.

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SmartThings Now turns patterns into suggested actions

SmartThings Now appears as cards at the top of the Home tab. It combines information the app considers relevant to a user’s situation with controls for taking action. Samsung describes the feature as an extension of Home Insight, adding personalization and more direct ways to act on its suggestions.

For example, if a Family Care member has shown no device activity for an extended period, the app can present a card to a caregiver with options to check in or call. When a user approaches a home location registered in SmartThings, a card may suggest switching on lights and air purifiers. After the user takes an action, SmartThings can prompt them to create a routine to repeat it automatically.

The feature also uses the previous week’s activity to suggest changes to Home tab Favorites, including devices, services and routines. A Routine Insight card lets users review activity from the past week and delete routines they no longer need.

The wider Home tab redesign reorganizes dashboards, device cards and service cards for browsing. Service cards use a more compact layout, while a Floating Bar at the bottom of the screen brings frequently used features within easier reach. Samsung says the refreshed experience, including SmartThings Now, is available across supported devices such as phones, Samsung smart TVs, Family Hub refrigerators, certain Samsung appliances and Windows devices.

Local control can bypass the cloud at home

When a mobile device and a SmartThings Hub are connected to the same Wi-Fi network, the phone can communicate directly with the hub instead of sending device commands through the cloud. This can keep controls working through some temporary internet or network disruptions and may reduce the time a command takes to reach a device.

Samsung reports that local control improved response times by approximately 30% compared with cloud-based control in its tests under controlled conditions. Actual performance may vary with the user’s environment. SmartThings switches between local control and cloud-based remote control depending on whether the phone is at home or away.

The company lists support for Android and iOS devices running the SmartThings app, SmartThings Station and SmartThings V2, V3 and V4 Hubs, as well as hub-enabled Samsung smart TVs and Family Hub products. The update also refreshes the Offline Device Diagnostics page, which can apply new network information across registered devices to help restore those that have gone offline.

Matter support and device compatibility expand

The update adds support for Matter 1.6, the smart-home connectivity standard from the Connectivity Standards Alliance. Samsung says this brings improvements to stability and Group Control performance, along with support for four additional device categories: energy meters for real-time power monitoring, closures such as specialized doors and gates, irrigation devices including sprinklers, and soil sensors.

Together, the interface changes and local-control option address two parts of everyday smart-home use: finding useful controls and keeping devices responsive when a cloud connection is disrupted. The practical experience depends on the supported devices and network setup, while SmartThings Now’s suggestions are based in part on recent usage and the user’s choices.

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