Samsung is no longer producing SmartThings devices, but the company is still heavily involved in its smart home platform. SmartThings Edge is a new architecture from Samsung that promises to be “more reliable, faster, and secure” by leveraging localized automation.
Users won’t see any explicit changes to the SmartThings app. But on the backend, SmartThings Edge lets you execute commands without having to ping the cloud. The concept is similar to the time that Google moved some of the most common Assistant actions on-device within the Android OS instead of relying on the cloud to process them. In this particular case, SmartThings enables local device support within your home network. Any automation commands you set up are stored locally for Zigbee, Z-Wave, and LAN-based devices.
SmartThings also cites Matter, the next smart home standard that aims to bring the many ecosystems together. Despite the fact that its introduction has been postponed until 2022, SmartThings offers assistance to individuals who are striving to make the switch.
When SmartThings announced it would stop making hardware, it also changed the way folks could build device handlers. As reported by StaceyonIoT, the SmartThings platform initially used Groovy along with a forced API for accessing different features, devices, and controls. SmartThings had also rescinded the ability for developers to use its integrated development environment, or IDE, to build custom device handlers.
Smart home tinkerers will be pleased to see that SmartThings Edge reintroduces some of that homebrew functionality. Developers can now create device handlers in Lua, in addition to the emphasis on local control. It’s a small programming language designed for embedded applications, such as a smart home hub and its peripherals.
It will work with versions 2 and 3 of the Samsung SmartThings hubs and the newer version made and sold by Aeotec.
Traditional smart home hubs have fallen out of favor in favor of assistant-based ones from Amazon and Google, so SmartThings has undergone a major makeover in recent months to help keep its position. It just updated the SmartThings smart home app for Android, giving it a fresh new style and a renewed focus on home automation and controls.
More: List of Best Samsung Smartthings Compatible Devices for Your Smart Home
SmartThings has been under a severe overhaul in the past few months to help maintain its standing as traditional smart home hubs went out of style in favor of assistant-based ones from Amazon and Google. It recently pushed out a new interface for the SmartThings smart home app on Android, offering a new look and a renewed focus on home controls and automation.
With SmartThings Edge, it appears that Samsung’s smart home vertical is heading in the direction of providing an accessible platform for tinkerers and hobbyists looking for a break from the crowd.
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