SmartThings Community

Introduction to SmartThings for Iris Customers

(SmartThings) #1

Hi Iris Customers,

We know change can be difficult and want to make your transition to SmartThings as seamless as possible. Most of your Z-Wave and Zigbee devices already work with SmartThings. Additional devices may become available in the upcoming weeks (and others are available through our developer community).

Our app looks a bit different, but many of the features familiar to you are still available. You can use the SmartThings app to set up Automations (similar to Rules), Scenes (setting the mood with the push of a button), or keep an eye on your home with Smart Home Monitor.

If you need any additional information, have features requests, or want help setting up devices or Automations, call us at 1800-SAMSUNG or email support@smartthings.com.

Lowe's Iris is officially history!
Getting there from fresh install. ADT Smartthings app and configuration advice sought. Iris orphan needing to get to speed
#2

Those seeking advice on how to reproduce specific setups using smartthings can start a new thread in the “projects” section of the forum and other community members will be glad to help with individualized advice and suggestions. :sunglasses:

https://community.smartthings.com/c/projects-stories

(www.rboyapps.com - Make your home your butler!) #3

JD, infact they can search the plethora of apps and device handlers including the Wikis you’ve put together to search and sort through the virtually endless options available on the SmartThings Community.

http://thingsthataresmart.wiki/index.php?title=ThingsThatAreSmart_Wiki

#4

They could, but it’s pretty clear that SmartThings support is trying to steer them to the new app to begin with, and that makes things trickier.

I was originally going to put a link to the “get started“ list from the community – created wiki, but then I realized most of it requires the classic app, so I dropped it again.

Since these are all people who currently have a working home automation system, I think their initial questions are almost all going to be “I’m doing this now, can I do it with smartthings?“ but that’s going to mean “can I do it with the new smartthings app?“ Even though they don’t know that. :sunglasses:

Anyway, anyone who would like to help them sort through the various sensors, sirens, light switches etc Will be able to find the requests with the “afteriris” tag.

https://community.smartthings.com/tags/afteriris

Remember that the generation one zigbee devices from Iris are not compatible with smartthings. But the generation two zigbee devices and most of the Z wave devices are.

Here’s the official “works with smartthings“ list for the iris brand devices. You’ll notice that quite a few more devices have been added recently, and anything on that list should show up automatically in the new app.

(www.rboyapps.com - Make your home your butler!) #6

I guess there is nothing “wrong” with the new app for beginners (and anyways it’s required to complete the registration process).

They will quickly figure out that the power of the vast community of SmartThings lies in the Classic app.

So just as a quick starting guide:

  1. Download the new SmartThings app (Connect). Complete your Samsung account and hub registration
  2. Download the SmartThings Classic app and log in using the Samsung account credentials created in Step 1 above
  3. Enjoy the power of the community SmartApps and Device Handlers using the Classic app

You can find step by step instructions to install SmartApps and install Device Handlers. Very similar but a few slight differences in what you click while installing so just pay attention to the first few steps.

And yes - you can use both the new SmartThings app and the Classic app side by side. So you get to have your cake and eat it too!

PS: You can even use your existing IRIS Keypads with SmartThing along with apps like Lock User Management (LUM) to program codes and control Smart Home Monitor or the ADT SmartThings hub.

You can also find a lot of popular third party paid apps which may be handy during the migration at:

and a very cool dashboard app at:

#7

Well, for anyone who is interested in using the classic app, you will find it easiest to search for custom smart apps and device type handlers, as well as for project reports on specific projects, by using the quick browse lists in the community – created wiki.

If you look down towards the bottom of that page, there is a section for “project reports,“ and the first list there is the “get started“ list which has a lot of different information that might be of interest. Everything from “the 10 best things to do with smartthings” to discussions of accessibility projects for people who use wheelchairs.

But I would emphasize again that most of those will require using the classic app, and it may be that a number of the people moving over from Iris will just want to use the new “smartthings ( Samsung connect)“ app and stick with it.

http://thingsthataresmart.wiki/index.php?title=How_to_Quick_Browse_the_Community-Created_SmartApps_Forum_Section

(Eric Anderson) #8

wow, i didn’t know they are packing it up. i do like their 2nd gen motion detectors and contact sensors…

Thinking of coming over from Iris to SmartThings ADT starter pack
(Scott Eckert) #9

I’m a potentially new user and I just spent time with tech support trying to figure out how to turn on AWAY, STAY, or HOME without using a smart phone (e.g., button, arrival, etc), and it appears there is not a way. Since there is also not a keypad (unless you buy ADT keypad), it is important to be able to arm/disarm the system without a phone if it’s forgotten, left it in car, etc. ST needs to simply allow using the button to turn on/off the system or add a simple keypad. I’m afraid you’re not going to get a lot of IRIS users without this capability. Without this, I can’t use the system.

#10

That’s true using the new app. It’s very easy using the classic app, you can use all kinds of keyfob devices or several different keypads Including the iris Gen 2 keypad. But those all require using the classic smartthings app, not the new smartthings app, and they have told us that the classic smartthings app will be going away, although they haven’t said when. :disappointed_relieved:

So while there is a way For people who are already invested in the SmartThings system, I understand that it might make it less of a candidate for someone who is starting new.

But then, as you will see from my discussions elsewhere in the forum, I wouldn’t use anything except the ADT model for security anyway because of the cloud dependence of all the other models. There’s literally no way to either arm or disarm any of the other models unless the smartthings cloud is available, and to me that’s disqualifying for a security system, whether you have a keypad or not. But different things work for different people.

(Scott Eckert) #11

Thank you for your comments. So will you use the ADT hub/keypad and sensors when you are forced to switch to the new ST app? Does the classic app have a wide variety of compatible Zigbee/Z-wave devices that it works with?

#12

To be honest, I don’t personally use smartthings as a security system at all. But for people looking for a low-cost DIY option with a professional monitoring center, I do suggest the smartthings/ADT model as a potential candidate, along with Ring, Abode, and Simplisafe. (I don’t include nest because professional smoke detector monitoring is very important to me, and while nest has excellent smoke detectors, they won’t trigger alerts to the professional monitoring system from them because they don’t have a cellular option.)

As for a choice of zwave and zigbee home automation devices with the classic app, it’s huge because of the custom code capability. Individual community members have created their own device type handlers for all kinds of interesting devices that aren’t officially supported, and most share them freely with other community members. You can see some of the lists in the community – created wiki:

https://thingsthataresmart.wiki/index.php?title=How_to_Quick_Browse_the_Community-Created_SmartApps_Forum_Section

There are other competitor hubs that support even more devices just because they support more different protocols. Smartthings has a Bluetooth radio, but you can’t use it for anything. Lutron integration is cloud to cloud through the lutron SmartBridge. There’s no IR bridge other than the Logitech Harmony, and no 433 MHz options.

But when it comes to certified Zwave devices and certified zigbee home automation profile devices, The ability to use your own custom code really expands the selections available. And the community is very creative and helpful.

But again, Samsung also tells us in this forum that their typical smartthings customer has 15 or fewer devices and uses no custom code at all. So they have not chosen to carry all of those capabilities into the new app or the new cloud platform.

I know that doesn’t really help with the decision-making process that you’re going through, so I’m not really sure what to say to be helpful.

(Scott Eckert) #13

Thanks again for taking the time to respond to my comments.

It is very frustrating to find that the ST (Classic or new) app does not permit arm/disarm of the system using a keyfob/button without going to the ADT/ST hub & devices. I just tried the ST Classic app and it also does not support this function. While Classic does connect to the Iris keyfob, it does not provide the arm/disarm option for this Keyfob or the Samsung Button. It is a seemingly easy function to incorporate into the ST App and seems to be desired by the user community (based on reading other comments). There are numerous scenarios where one would want a remote arm/disarm capability. It is such a common sense feature to be able to turn your Arm/Disarm an alarm system for anyone without a smartphone. Now, as a former EE, I am beginning to believe that Samsung may not WANT to incorporate this feature since it directly competes with ADT’s more sophisticated ADT/ST system. That system offers a simple keychain remote to arm/disarm the system which could be kept in the car, by the bed, on a keychain, etc. I understand that the ADT system is a much more robust system than standard ST and offers a better security solution, but for those of us who are comfortable with a cloud-based system, I really think Samsung could make this simple upgrade to the stand ST system and make a lot of users happy. End of rant.

(Fernando Fuentes) #14

is this true?

#15

We often say the classic app is very powerful, but not at all intuitive. You can in fact arm or disarm SHM in the classic app with a button key fob, and it can be any of the over a dozen Smartthings can work with. Or many other ways. It’s just that you’d be unlikely to discover how to do it from any of the official documentation. But it is using only official features.

  1. add a new “routine” under “automations.”

  2. for your action, choose “set SHM to” and then pick whichever armed state you want to set to.

  3. under “additional settings” choose " automatically perform when" and then you will get a page with all kinds of options including “a button is pressed.”

  4. once you select “a button is pressed” you will then get a list of all of the button devices that you have connected to your hub. ( again, we are not talking about the ADT model hub, we’re talking about one of the other models) then you just pick the device you want and the button you want.

So there you are. All official features and you can change the classic app SHM armed state to armed away, armed stay, or disarmed.

Works fine, many people use it. Now it’s quite likely that Samsung support doesn’t know about that option is there, because they only seem to be trained in the new app these days.

And it’s quite likely that you would never find out on your own unless you are one of those people who looks at every field on every screen. It’s definitely not in the documentation.

But it’s there and it works. :sunglasses:

Ironically, if you only want to use devices which are officially supported and do not require custom code, your choices will be limited to the new SmartThings brand button or to one of the two iris multibutton key fobs, The latter being added to support former iris users. There has been custom code for them for a long time, but not official support.

(Scott Eckert) #16

I will give it a try. I really appreciate you taking the time to respond. I’ll post my results.

(Scott Eckert) #17

Just tried it and it works in Classic. Why didn’t Samsung know this?

Where do I send the beer?

#18

:sunglasses::beers:

Glad it worked!

(Scott Eckert) #19

Is there a similar trick to get it to work in the new ST app? I don’t see the equivalent options.

#20

I don’t think so, but I’m not that familiar with the new app. @prjct92eh2 might know.

(Jimmy) #21

no tricks. SHM in the new app is separate and can currently only be armed/disarmed automatically based on time.