I had it in my head that the 300 didn’t include the hidden devices but I realised yesterday that the device numbers appear in the Location object in the API which should be the same for all users, whereas the hidden devices are listed in the per user client app settings.
"deviceLimit": 300,
"deviceVacancies": 298,
"deviceCount": 2
So I tried it and the numbers didn’t change.
Prior to the latest update hidden devices didn’t count towards the total. Seems that SmartThings can’t make up their mode what the rules are.
The latest IOS smartthings ver has the same issue. @Jeff_Gallagher. The unselected devices are count towards the 300 limit
@AlejandroPadilla previously this does not count to the 300 limit and now it changed again. Can you please check why is this so. Without this feature it defeat the main purpose… Thanks….
This is what smartthings said about the change
Its annoying they keep making sudden changes. Anyone have any walkaround?
From smartthings;
We understand your concern regarding the recent behavior observed in the SmartThings app regarding device limits.
The feature of hiding devices only disappears them from the app’s interface, however, they’re still on the platform and continue working, so, it is not intended to reduce the overall device count.
If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to us. We’re here to help.
@Jeff_Gallagher Meaning i will just need to create a new location etc location B and move some of the devices there. Will the location B devices able to do any routine or automation with the location A devices?
Will try later tonight. Thanks
no, you can’t do routines across ST locations unless you use something like SharpTools Rules Engine.
@Automated_House thanks, i guess so… yes i do have sharptools. anyone know if there is any other walkaround for IOS? thanks
@nayelyz ,
I will ask the question here again as i have no idea how i can move my devices to another location without breaking the automation and routines that is already setup.
Btw i not sure why “select the devices” was not the intend but that works for the users and that feature was there so everyone use it to continue setup the devices and then a sudden change was made again. Its not easy to change a setup thats already done. These automation is suppose to help us but now we are spending alot more time because smartthings keep changing the rules.
I know you guys have feedback to the engineers but it seems they dont really care.
I will like to move the devices to another location if it works but do provide guidance how i can do so
If i move devices to another location from another linked services or brand which is on their single hub, i will need to move all and not do partial right?
Etc If i have 50 devices from smartlife/tuya which is currently on its own hub, and now linked on the 1st location of smartthings, how do i move 20 out of the 50 of it to the 2nd location?
Do provide guidance per the suggested solution. i have 360 devices now and alot of automation and routines linked on these devices using smartthings, as well as alexa and google home, ifttt, if i dont do it right for a start, the whole setup will break and its unthinkable to redo the whole setup.
Can you and someone advise how to make this change when smartthings make a change of their rules impacting heavy users who supported the use of smartthings
Note. I not asking this out of fustration, but i do need a REAL solution with guidance how to move forward
Thanks for your help
Yes, you cannot select which devices a Cloud-Connected integration brings to a certain location, so, you need to move all of them.
We could check a use case as an example to see if there’s a way to avoid losing common automation among certain devices because it depends on your setup.
I think you need to separate them into groups by brand and common routines/services that use them, you can also draw a map of how your elements are related to see the overall configuration.
In that case that is no way i can move any of the linked devices per services/brands that is being used in smartthings. I dont have a single brand or services that is not interconnected to another services in the same location otherwise i wont not bring it into smartthings in the first place
all the devices that are brought in to smartthings especially those of the higher count number brands , there is at least more than a dozen that is linked either to another brand or multiple other brands via rountines and automation. Taking one out will break any automation or routines.
there are a few dozen virtual switches , these switches are also linked to other services/brands of devices brought into smartthings , so how can i move them to other location and not break any automation?
I am really wondering then why is this a recommended solution then especially the setup is really actually just in 1 location and it is now recommended to spilt into 2 location
Can you get smartthings engineers to clarify how to resolve this problem? Im ok to open up my connection and they can provide me solution to suggest logical way to solve this? Thanks for your help again
@nayelyz Or maybe we could get a reason why this limit at the app level is being imposed. I have well over 400 devices and the app response times these days is good. If SmartThings can bloat the app with things like room view I would thing they can open up the device limit.
I am having the same issue. I have a few he outlets, and there are huge delays. Smartthings is saying that it’s because I have too many devices (350). I haven’t even started to add all my led bulbs, or window blinds yet. I also find that I have to crest a crazy high number of virtual devices to be able to do certain things because of limitations in the app/platform.
I know this was from before Christmas, but it should probably be acknowledged that this doesn’t happen anymore. Or at least I can’t make it happen. If you have hidden any devices then those devices simply aren’t made available for you to create Routines with, and any existing Routines that use them are completely hidden.
As @mocelet points out, I was looking at Routines and the problem as demonstrated here remains in place with the button controls.
I still have that issue in Android, never understood the reason. Given there’s even a information dialog looks like it’s on purpose.
In my case it was not about device limits, just to hide the duplicates from WiZ lights that are added both via Matter and the cloud integration.
Note that it happens when you want to assign actions to a button for instance, not when you create a new routine.
I would suggest it is because if you are going to impose a limit, even one that only gets enforced by the mobile apps, it is ridiculous to do it an any level than the Location. It should be the same for every member of the Location and on every device they use, and regardless of how many devices a member user has chosen to hide.
This thread started in August 2021 and the flirtations with a 200 device limit in the mobile app had already been going on for a considerable time by then. That rang alarm bells for me so that is something I have always born in mind since. At no point have I ever thought that it is something that would completely go away, and when the hidden devices came along it was clear that it would create yet another workaround opportunity that ultimately would need fixing.
ya not on routines. On buttons, its not being addressed
Assigning actions for buttons seem to use a different mechanism than creating new routines and that might explain the different behaviour.
Let’s take these two examples that should be equivalent but they’re not:
If you delete Light X because it broke or you replaced it or whatever, the behaviour is different:
Hopefully they’ll unify actions assignment and routines, I prefer not missing out on the device replacement feature for broken button actions. After all, assigning actions in the button view is easier than creating routines.
Not understanding the purpose of a limit on a app and when there is no solution. So even adding additional hubs within the location does not enable increase the limit then not sure what direction smarthings is going. In any case there must be a solution made available for users who are already above the limit, if not it is just asking users to find other platforms
I know that’s true on android phones because they are taking advantage of a feature in the android architecture called “quick actions“ which is designed specifically for Home Automation devices.
But that feature is not available on iPhones and thought the mechanism in the SmartThings architecture was therefore different. But maybe I’m wrong. 
I think the reason is simply that if you have hidden a device (the unselected devices are referred to as ‘hidden devices’ in the API) then you can’t reasonably show it anywhere in the Routine editor, or indeed anywhere in the app. On the Routines page they can ignore existing Routines using hidden devices, and not present the devices as available for conditions and actions. It is more of a problem with the button controls as you can’t really just hide one or more of the controls. It probably does make more sense to just disable them completely. I think it would make more sense if they weren’t on the device details page to start with, and that they weren’t displayed at all if there are hidden devices.
I would have thought that was one of the intended uses, in addition to simply allowing the user to remove items of no interest to them. There may have even been performance gains to be had, though I think the apps have been able to speed up considerably due to the client API doing a lot more of the work on the server end allowing a single call to replace tens or even hundreds.
Ah yes, indeed it still does. Bottoms.