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Samsung's SmartThings iOS App Now Lets You Control Matter Devices

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Samsung's SmartThings app for the iPhone and iPad was today updated to add support for Matter devices. For those unfamiliar with SmartThings, it is a smart home platform that is a subsidiary of Samsung, and it is akin to Apple HomeKit.

matter-iot-standard.jpg

The SmartThings platform was updated with Matter support back in October, with Samsung rolling out Matter integration to SmartThings hubs last year. With the app update, Matter-enabled smart home devices that are connected to a SmartThings hub are able to be controlled with an iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch.

Prior to now, Matter accessories connected to a SmartThings hub were only able to be controlled with an Android device, but now either Apple or Android devices can be used, which is useful in multi-platform households.

Matter is a smart home standard that is designed to integrate with all major smart home platforms from Apple, Samsung, Google, Amazon, and more. A Matter home accessory can connect to both HomeKit and SmartThings, for example, and as long as an appropriate hub is available, it can be controlled through either smart home platform.

The SmartThings app can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Article Link: Samsung's SmartThings iOS App Now Lets You Control Matter Devices
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2023/01/30/smarthings-ios-app-matter-support/
Looks like it's time to see how to get my Samsung fridge integrated...been holding out until this started to happen.
 
I7guy said:
SmartThings is very useful. Tv, washer and dryer, thermostat, wiz lights are all hooked up to it.
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With a name like Wiz, you'd think they'd offer more than just smart lighting devices and accessories... you know, like a smart toilet. 🤣 But alas, no. A missed opportunity.
 
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User 6502 said:
Great. Now a Samsung app is the best way to control smart devices on an iOS device as apple home app and HomeKit suck and now are even more broken and malfunctioning.
Click to expand...

My understanding was it was *some* home setups that include a mix of devices that had trouble upgrading to the new HomeKit setup, so Apple rolled that back. I've heard several success stories where it's working really well.

So, did you have a bad experience yourself? Do you know which devices it had trouble with?
 
I’ve not had good experiences with SmartThings. Seems pretty clunky and with my devices, unreliable. YMMV. I’m also concerned about privacy: SmartThings wants to know a lot about you, which it definitely sends away to their web-app. It also wants to know your location, just to add a device into your network. Why? Maybe I’m a bit paranoid about my privacy, but this whiffs a bit, to me.
 
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Will Co said:
I’ve not had good experiences with SmartThings. Seems pretty clunky and with my devices, unreliable. YMMV. I’m also concerned about privacy: SmartThings wants to know a lot about you, which it definitely sends away to their web-app. It also wants to know your location, just to add a device into your network. Why? Maybe I’m a bit paranoid about my privacy, but this whiffs a bit, to me.
Click to expand...

You're not wrong. Why would your geographic location be important? Oh right, to serve up ads.

Regarding your experience, the home networking (wired and wireless) is always a factor. Sometimes cheap routers supplied by ISPs are just that... super cheap and unreliable. Or sometimes there's network interference (wired and/or wireless) causing invisible problems.
 
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coolfactor said:
You're not wrong. Why would your geographic location be important? Oh right, to serve up ads.

Regarding your experience, the home networking (wired and wireless) is always a factor. Sometimes cheap routers supplied by ISPs are just that... super cheap and unreliable. Or sometimes there's network interference (wired and/or wireless) causing invisible problems.
Click to expand...
True enough. My network is pretty good - mostly wired throughout the house with APs at key locations to allow for mobile access. The home automation hubs are wired in and fairly central. Through the Home app it all works like clockwork. Through SmartThings - hit and miss - and I feel it’s clunky. Not a fan.
 
coolfactor said:
My understanding was it was *some* home setups that include a mix of devices that had trouble upgrading to the new HomeKit setup, so Apple rolled that back. I've heard several success stories where it's working really well.

So, did you have a bad experience yourself? Do you know which devices it had trouble with?
Click to expand...
Yeah both me and my partner had issues with it. We used to share control of each other homes and now neither of us can control the other person home. We tried everything apple suggests and spent hours on the phone with support. It just can’t be helped (both on latest software with upgraded HomeKit architecture). In addition to that my tado termostat can’t be controlled anymore on the home app (but it can still be controlled through the tado app).
 
coolfactor said:
is your robot vacuum using Matter? Which ecosystem did it originally work with? Which brand?

Smart does not equal Smart. There needs to be interoperability, and some brands don't have it.
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I don't really care. It's working fine* via Homebridge meaning it's a matter of Apple having a will to implement it. Beyond that it's just funny not to have such a huge and popular segment of smart appliances represented in the app for years.
 
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