I recently noticed that devices are being a pain to add, and when they are added they are now showing up as placeholder cloud execution, when other of the same devices I have are local control. So are these placeholder devices being changed to cloud now as I want my devices to be 100% local? I hope ST is not making devices cloud only so they can then force a subscription fee. Thanks.
Fortunately, that’s not what’s happening.
The IDE is part of the old architecture. It is incomplete and inaccurate for anything which is now using the new architecture. And specifically, it may show things as cloud which are in fact local. (If it’s using an edge driver, it’s local, those don’t run in the cloud. )
So at this point, you should only be using the IDE maybe to get some old read-only information, but don’t count on it for anything.
See the community FAQ
FAQ: Why does the IDE list “placeholder” for my device? Can I change that?
Also, you might find the following thread of interest:
3 Likes
According to the Smartthings migration docs, it claims that items called placeholder are:
“Devices that are no longer supported in the Smartthings app, or do not have an equivalent edge driver on the platform will not be controllable in Smarthings and cannot be added to automations. These will be migrated over to a placeholder device driver called a thing.”
It really seems that Smartthings is really pushing to screw everyone over so they can make sales with their new Matter devices and hubs. If that is the case, I can envision massive antitrust cases coming, especially when it costs people a lot of money for devices on a system which worked fine before, but now makes that same company more money (other than the lack of replace or battery monitoring.)
It’s not saying that that’s what all “placeholder” devices are. It’s saying that devices that can’t be migrated to a specific edge, driver will be listed as placeholder. Placeholder covers a lot of stuff right now. It really just means “using the new architecture and the IDE no longer understands it.”
As far as this, lawsuits are not possible in the US on this issue
If that is the case, I can envision massive antitrust cases coming, especially when it costs people a lot of money for devices on a system which worked fine (other than the lack of replace or battery monitoring.)
when you first signed up for a smartthings account, there was a terms of service that you agreed to. And that says that they can make any changes at any time, including ones which will cause existing features or devices to stop working. So each person using smartthings already agreed that this could happen. Agreements of that type have already held up in US courts with other brands.
CHANGE | We may, at any time:
.
- Change, add, suspend, or remove features from our Services.
- Suspend or terminate your right to use our Services, including access to your account or data.
- Pre-screen, review, flag, filter, modify, refuse, reject, block access to, or remove any or all content from our Services.
————————-
So we may not like it, but we did agree to it. 
In the UK, the law is a little different: if a device is still within its warranty period, You may have an argument for a prorated refund. But that’s about it.
I don’t know for sure, but they put this plan into effect long before matter was even a thing. I’m pretty sure it was just because it was costing them too much money to run the cloud and provide customer support. They don’t make very much money, if any, off of the home automation division. Their money comes from televisions and appliances and phones and services to other companies that make televisions and appliances and phones. So it’s not really surprising if they want to cut their losses in this very small part of their very big company, but again disappointing even if not surprising.
Samsung makes a boat load of money selling data, like when ones lights come on and go off, and so on… This is the only reason why they would not let you arm / disarm system without an internet connection. They want to sell data of when you leave and come home.
That is not what that says at all. The IDE works with the legacy system that expects all devices to be implemented using a device type handler. Devices integrated using the current platform need to be represented in the legacy platform somehow so they appear with a generic device type handler that they chose to name ‘placeholder’.
All devices need to be migrated to the current platform somehow. A handful of devices that SmartThings previously supported on the legacy platform will not be supported on the current platform, largely at the choice of the manufacturers who no longer support the devices themselves. Others were integrated using custom written device type handlers that have not been replaced by new drivers by their authors, or anyone else, and are not similar enough to supported devices to be able to usefully use existing drivers. In these cases SmartThings need to represent them on the system somehow, even if they don’t have any functionality, and for that they will use drivers named ‘things’ that exist only as a placeholder for these devices.
So two different uses of the word ‘placeholder’.
1 Like