Hi,
I’m new to smartthings and was tinkering around with the API. I’m trying to build an ionic application which pretty much does the same thing the Smartthings app(the new one) does with some additional functionalities. So basically, I provide my users the devices and they should be able to add and manage the devices using MyApp(my ionic application).
So, what I’m expecting to achieve is this (I’m ignoring Hub connected devices for now):
I find the documentation really confusing (might be because i’m a total noob to smartthings). TL;DR
- Is the documentation for device manufacturers? Or is it for developers creating StartApps to include in Smartthings mobile app (feels kind of a plugin system)? Or is it for someone with my use case?
- What is a smartapp?
Documentation says:
You can develop a SmartApp either to integrate a cloud-connected device into SmartThings Cloud, or to create an Automation.
I’m not interested in Automation for now. So integrate a cloud-connected device seems like my thing. But the confusion starts here.
A cloud-connected device communicates to SmartThings Cloud through a third-party cloud and a Cloud Connector.
For a long time I was under the impression that third-party cloud meant My API Server. Later on I figured out that it means Cloud service of the device manufacturer. CMIIW
So is that cloud above services My API Server? If it is, then where’s the documentation for that SmartApp?
- In Oauth integrations,
What is third-party application? Is it MyApp?
To integrate a third-party application with SmartThings, first submit a request. Once approved, you can enable users of your platform to interact with SmartThings Cloud through your application.
Why is it required? How long does it take for a request to be approved?
Now, just below this, there’s a section called Register your application. It has instructions to enter application details to show in Smartthings app. It doesn’t seem like an API thing anymore.
- Should we create a smartapp for each user?
- What’s the difference between Smartthings API and SmartApps API. When should we use them?
- How do we communicate to hub connected devices? In other words, How does My API Server know about the state changes in the device? Is webhooks used here?
I know it’s a lot of questions and maybe I’m not looking at smartthings like it was intended. But it would be of great help if someone could point me in the right direction.