Samsung SmartThings looks to become the first major smart home platform to fully support Matter 1.2. According to a press release, the SmartThings platform now works with Matter 1.2, so manufacturers and developers can start integrating their compatible devices with the platform. The SmartThings app won’t be updated to support Matter until later this summer – so you won’t be able to control your Matter-compatible Roborock robot vacuum or Midea dishwasher via SmartThings until then.
Samsung also announced several other updates to its smart home platform, including improvements to app design, new device control options, a hub backup option, shareable routines and the gamification of the SmartThings Energy feature.
Support for Matter 1.2 in SmartThings means that devices added to the new smart home standard – jointly developed by Apple, Amazon, Google, Samsung and others – will now work with Samsung’s smart home platform.
This includes refrigerators, room air conditioners, dishwashers, washing machines, robot vacuum cleaners, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, air quality sensors, air purifiers and fans. You can add the devices directly to the SmartThings app via Matter, control them and receive notifications and alerts via the app.
The SmartThings platform already supports many of these devices, both Samsung’s own brand and those from other manufacturers (including Thermador, Bosch and Dacor). But those typically happen via cloud integrations.
Matter brings these integrations locally, which should mean faster response times and the ability to control devices even if your internet goes down. While Samsung’s connected devices work with the SmartThings app, they’re not Matter-certified. That means they’ll only work with the SmartThings app, while Matter devices can work with any smart home platform that supports Matter.
Amazon Alexa, Google Home and Apple Home have yet to add support for Matter 1.2
The other major platforms, Amazon Alexa, Google Home and Apple Home, have yet to add support for Matter 1.2, however. Apple has announced that it will support robot vacuums later this year , but there’s no word yet on any of the other device types. Home Assistant does support Matter 1.2, but the Matter integration is still in beta. While Matter 1.3 was announced in May and adds support for energy management, microwaves, ovens, electric cooktops, range hoods and electric dryers, it’s unclear when we’ll see broad platform support.
There are currently only a handful of Matter-certified devices in the newly supported categories – Roborock’s S8 MaxV Ultra, Ecovac’s Deebot X2 Combo robot vacuums, and the AiDot air purifier are a few examples. But now that one of the major platforms has announced support, I expect to see manufacturers see it in their appliances. Whirlpool (which owns KitchenAid and Maytag), Midea, LG, and Haier (which owns GE Appliances) are all notable brands that have said their products will support Matter.
Samsung announced a few other improvements to its platform alongside the Matter update. It’s adding a new Hub Manager interface to the SmartThings app to provide a single place to manage multiple hubs. This adds the option to choose a primary hub, as well as a new Hub Backup feature. If you have multiple SmartThings hubs, a secondary hub can step in if the primary hub fails.
SmartThings has significantly expanded its hub infrastructure in recent years, adding SmartThings hubs to its TVs, soundbars and smart refrigerators. With the Hub Backup feature, you are more likely to have multiple hubs in your home. If one becomes disconnected, breaks down, or you replace it, your smart home will continue to work. Most of Samsung’s newer SmartThings hubs support Thread, Zigbee, and Matter, but only the Aeotec SmartThings hub also supports Z-Wave.
Samsung Galaxy smartphone users are getting a new quick access feature for Device Control. You can now choose devices to add to your own Home Control page on your phone’s Quick Panel, for quick access to adjust the TV volume or change the brightness of a light without opening the SmartThings app.
Energy management is a key feature of the smart home, and SmartThings Energy, SmartThings’ energy management service, is one of the more robust options. Now, Samsung is adding a fun gamification feature to the platform that lets you view and manage the energy usage of compatible appliances, helping you save energy. By using Samsung’s AI Energy Mode, which automatically adjusts how much energy your appliances use, you can earn an energy stamp for every day you save 400Wh of electricity. These can be converted into Samsung Rewards to spend on Samsung products at Samsung.com.
The SmartThings app is also getting some interface updates. The Devices tab now displays Rooms as top-level tabs, making it easier to manage your devices on a room-by-room basis. Device search has also been “improved” to help you find what you need faster. Devices will also display more organized information on their card, including the status of the device — for example, a door lock will indicate whether it is locked or unlocked.
You can now also share any routines or automations you create in the app with friends and family. Shareable routines let you generate a QR code of a routine you’ve created so someone can scan and activate it in the SmartThings app.
While these are mainly incremental improvements to the platform, they are all welcome updates that — if they work as advertised — will make using SmartThings to manage your smart home easier and more reliable. The platform has also been a leader in Matter adoption, and while Matter is still a long way from the smooth, seamless smart home experience we were promised, SmartThings now offers one of the most robust implementations.