Announcement | Changes to our Legacy SmartThings Platform

Eventually, the Groovy version will go away, yes. However, I will definitely have a replacement one way or another - it may just require a few more hoops to jump through to stand it up or self-host it. Or who knows - there’s always a chance SmartThings could come through with the long-awaited native integration with MyQ.

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So when is SmartThings WiFi going to get a firmware update to support edge drivers?

Now! :sunglasses:

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It is now 2022.

So has the Groovy IDE had a stay on it’s execution?

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No. Just slow death. And we know more about the replacement components.

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That’s where I am. I could probably continue to put up with the flaws and even the outages but the loss of groovy and subsequently losing community developed resources like webCoRE will force me to go elsewhere. Routines just aren’t powerful enough nor will they ever be and even those aren’t fully working right now according to SmartThings tech support. It’s a shame that the group who made SmartThings what it is are leaving in droves. I can’t count the number of community developers who’ve left SmartThings already.

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I understand that under the new architecture people who have a smartthings/Aeotec hub will be able to create virtual devices with an edge driver.

What about people who don’t have a hub? Will there still be a virtual device option for them? Right now you can just create one in the IDE and it works fine (I use several of these).

Also, once Matter support rolls out will people who don’t have a hub be able to use Matter-compliant devices in the SmartThings app? So far the announcements I’ve seen from Samsung have been ambiguous on this point. :thinking:

I don’t really want to have to add a hub just for virtual devices, although smartthings’ implementation of virtual devices is so far advanced compared to most of the competition I might even consider that. :sunglasses:

@nayelyz @jody.albritton @Automated_House

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As I understand it (which could be totally wrong), you need some kind of “hub” to connect Matter devices from your LAN to the SmartThings cloud. This would make sense because the mobile app only communicates to the SmartThings cloud and not your LAN. I have a feeling this is why Samsung is adding SmartThings as a hub to TVs and Family Hub fridges (even though those TV/Fridge “hubs” may not have any radio besides wifi).

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Even if you do have a hub there is a need for virtual devices capable of running in the cloud when required. Horse for courses.

There are other pseudo-devices that might be useful but virtual devices are the ones we need to know about sooner rather than later.

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You can create virtual devices using:

  • The SmartThings Schema Connector. It is useful to connect to clouds that support OAuth 2.0, but you can also implement a “dummy” OAuth server to login and use it as a virtual device
  • The SmartApp Connector. This allows developers to provide a custom onboarding process using the SmartApp pages > settings. It benefits us more when you need inputs from the user before creating the device. (This option doesn’t require the OAuth server)

These integration types don’t need a Hub and you can use AWS (Lambda functions, S3), there are some examples/tutorials about them, I’ll leave you the links below:

Note: I forgot to mention that virtual switches can be created using the “Labs” tool in the SmartThings App. (This might be disabled in some regions)

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I believe the virtual switch creator in Labs is only available on android.

Do you know if the virtual switches created in labs will survive after the Transition to the new architecture is complete?

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I hope after all the developing and changing things get a bit more user friendly, at this point as a user and not a developer i get confused at which driver does what and how

Some drivers have multiple fingerprints, some dont… will users have to visit the forum to find drivers or will the app somehow display created developer drivers… when ST was a hobbyist platform visiting a forum for drivers and info was standard practice, now ST is part of a billion dollar outfit with millions of installations are the basic users supposed to visit the forum as well ??

Making things simpler at this point seems a long way off unless the initial discovery process for obscure drivers is simplified for basic Android, IOS, hub, non hub owners alike

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I’m not even a developer and tired of the lack of flexibility in routines for just a small mediocre home set up. After 4 yrs I decided to pull the plug on ST and go all in on HomeAssistant. I already had most of the hardware kicking around and just needed a zigbee dongle.

2 months on I often wonder why I didn’t do it sooner.

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I’m not even a developer and tired of the lack of flexibility in routines for just a small mediocre home set up.

Yeah, this definitely feels like the end of SmartThings for me. Using the ST app is like wearing a straightjacket while swimming; it’s not going to end well. I’ve had my fingers crossed for a while that the situation would improve but clearly that’s not going to happen.

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My guess would be possibly and definitely not. I would expect the app to show the certified devices as at present. To do anything else would be to devalue certification and/or to trade on the reputation of other brands.

There may be a case for making it easier to find community developed handlers but SmartThings daren’t do anything that might be seen as endorsing them.

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I think that’s clearly the intention. Staff have said multiple times that the current phase is a beta for developers, not for end users. I don’t think they’ve even really addressed those issues yet.

I also believe from things they’ve said that their intended goal is that the vast majority of end users will never have to search for drivers at all. Either the standard drivers provided will cover the needed functionality, including for Matter compliant devices, or the device manufacturer will provide a custom edge driver through their support channels.

Of course, that may not end up being the reality, particularly for fairly complex Devices like Those from Fibaro where the manufacturer has not had an interest in doing anything specific to smartthings. We will just have to wait and see on those.

Again, I don’t think we have any way of knowing whether smartthings is going to hit these goals, but I do think it’s much too early in this phase to judge what the end-user experience will be for the final product.

JMO, of course.

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So I left in the end, but not happily (frankly I was gutted about it…), but the new app, coupled with Alexa skill ridiculousness, Groovy retirement and loss of WebCore just added up to too much for me. So I went to ‘the other side’ where many of the regulars here have gone.

It was a good choice and the platform is great and growing fast, but do you know what its not? It’s not the old Classic Smartthings (especially the app) which still trumps every other option out there imo. Damn I miss it…

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Couldnt agree more

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Can I ask what your setup is?

What’s the integration with Google like?

Dell i5 Optplex 3020 Micro PC (Overkill I know) running HA x86 version
2 x Sonoff 3 USB Zigbee sticks runniing both ZHA and zigbee2mqtt
Aeotec Z-Wave v5 USB stick
Aqara Door/Window sensors
Innr Zigbee sockets
Aeotec Z-Wave Radiator TRVs
Aeon 5 Siren
Popp Z-Wave Alarm box
Frient Smoke Alarms
ST Water Leak Sensor
BlueIris CCTV Integration
Ring integration for doorbell
Philips Hue Integration for lights, dimmer switches and motion sensors
Hive Heating Integration

I use Google home mini’s for TTS voice announcements and some voice actions, works well.

Runs incredibly well to be honest.

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