I just bought the SmartThings Hub v3 because of the flexibility of the system. When digging into the documentation, I have found out that the “Classic” way of doing things are beeing phased out. The new developer portal was updated approx one month ago with information on how to develop locally connected deviced (ex. Device Handlers for Z-Wave devices), but to my suprise this functionality is not available as a private person. You need to be enrolled in an organization to to this.
Does this mean that making Device Handlers is off limits for private persons? I only want to publish the device handlers for myself, not to the public repository.
Yes, that’s correct, but that will only be 100% compatible with the Samsung Classic app that will disapperar? I have created a custom device handler with the Groovy IDE, which works in the Classic app, but not the new Connect app.
I just bought the device, and is thiking about returning it if Samsung is planning to limiting these functions for private users in the new developer ecosystem.
The official submission process is for the new portal and Groovy IDE, so even new submissions using the Groovy IDE can work in the new app. The trick is that the VID and OCF metadata in the DTH that makes the device work in the new app isn’t documented anywhere. So it’s a matter of reverse engineering the official DTHs to figure out how to get the device to work in the new app.
Thanks for all the feedback so far. This post is not regarding how to get the Device Handlers and locally connected devices working with both the new and old app at the moment.
What I want to know is wheter Samsung is planning to stop the personal developers from developing local connected devices (Z-wave and Zigbee). In the new portal, and the new way of doing things, they are saying that only organizations are allowed to publish (develop) local connected devices, which is a big change from previously.
The old developer ecosystem is going to ble closed down at some point, and the new rules and ecosystem will apply for all developers.
tgauchat
(ActionTiles.com co-founder Terry @ActionTiles; GitHub: @cosmicpuppy)
6
I don’t think anybody knows for sure how things are going to work once everything switches over to the new platform.
In the new documents, they talk about “developer mode“ which is a way that you can test new automation and device type handlers Without making these publicly available to others. You can choose to make them available to others in your own “organization.”
This appears to be the equivalent of self publishing on the old platform, but it’s not clear from the documentation whether there are any functionality limitations when you run in developer mode or not.
I think you are incorrect. Have you tried to enroll as an organization? The enrollment process seems quite specific mentioning that you can’t use your personal account. You will also need to fill out a lot of information about your company. Sure, you might try to trick Samsung to think you actually represent a fake company, but this is not the way to go…
I have tested the developer mode in the app, but this doesn’t help as the new developer workspace is still blocked for private persons creating hub-connected devices.
You are able to create devices with the SmartThings Cloud Connector (devices that has their own cloud), or automations, but not hub-connected devices that use Z-Wave or Zigbee.
Everyone, thanks for your feedback on this topic. I think @JDRoberts are correct when he says that probably noone knows for sure how things are going to work before everything switches over to the new platform.
…or maybe someone from Samsung reads this post and want to respond?
tgauchat
(ActionTiles.com co-founder Terry @ActionTiles; GitHub: @cosmicpuppy)
10
In the USA, a sole proprietor business does not generally need any special registration, nor even a separate tax return.
Just call your organization by your “name, consultant”, and answer the other questions truthfully. It can’t hurt.
I just submitted a request for enroll as an organization I entered the information truthfully as a personal user. I’m awaiting approval, and will update this post when I get a response from the SmartThings team.
@tgauchat you were correct, I was able to register as an organization Samsung approved my request after a couple of hours!
Anyways, there is no need to register as an oranization at the moment, unless you actually are an organization which produces devices. The new developer portal still sends us to the Groovy IDE and the old portal for self-publishing the device handlers. The new portal offers functionality to publish official device handlers to the SmartThings app for approval by Samsung. This really makes sense, and I understand that this part of the portal is blocked for personal users as default.
At first I was negative about this approach, but when I understood what this actually was, this is a positive thing! I really like that Samsung have created a good portal for device manfactureres to develop, test and submit device handlers. We, as personal users, are still able to self-publish our own device handlers.
A tip to Samsung (if they are reading this), is to clarify this in the screenshot posted in the start of this thread. Access is only needed for official publishing, not for developing and testing. This make sure you don’t get a ton of “test registrations” of organizations.
@eriso I’m trying to understand the API and how it works in regards to OAuth with or without being an approved organization. It sounds like you have a good handle on this so I thought I would ask. Do you know if I can test an app that uses OAuth without being an approved organization? I’ve applied to be an organization but haven’t heard back yet, hopefully they’ll approve me on Monday.
I entered the information truthfully as a personal user. I’m awaiting approval, and will update this post when I get a response from the SmartThings team.