Need to find a Smart Button type device Samsung V3 (2021)

Hi and thanks in advance for any counsel that you may want to share.

I would like to add a “smart button” to create an automation trigger - as in to turn on lights or change the states of smart plugs. I have Samsung Smartthings Hubs V3 currently running 2.2.9-3. I am running Smartthings IOS App 1.6.70-549.s A few things to note - we live in a 110-year-old house. The electrical wiring is “interesting” - as in it would be very difficult to add and use a smart light switch as an event trigger. I would prefer to use a smart button that is still in production and available - the Samsung Smartthings Smart Button, for instance, is available on EBay at crazy prices and mostly used.

Sumsung Smartthings Support indicated that they were not aware of any current product that is supported. So question 1, are there currently devices that are functional through the addition of device handlers? I have tried the AQara smart button WXKG11UM, with no success to pair. I’ve read through the Community notes - last entries 2019 and then mentions of will not integrate with new IOS App. Most of these switches are ZigBee devices - with a ZigBee hub that supports the switch, would I be able to integrate into Smartthings.

A bit of background - we have guests that come and stay in our in-law space. The lights are operated on smart plugs, so it looks occupied when no one is there. One regular guest is my 91-year-old mother-in-law. She really needs a single switch/button to turn on/off the lights. She is not receptive to having Alexa turn on/off the lights.

Any solutions/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
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Wow, is that a bad answer. :scream:

There are several, although it does depend on what country you live in, and different ones have different features.

Some work straight out of the box, some will require custom code. A few will require an additional bridge device to complete the smartthings integration.

  1. Samsung is no longer going to make smartthings – branded hardware, and they have signed up Aeotech as their hardware partner for both the US and the EU/UK. Aeotec will be manufacturing their version of the smartthings zigbee button if you want to just wait for that. It’s listed on Amazon, but not in stock yet.

  1. IKEA buttons. IKEA has some very inexpensive buttons that either work well with smartthings or have a horrible battery problem where they use up batteries about every two days. There are some guesses as to why some people have problems with the batteries and others don’t, but nothing yet definitive from either company. If you want to get one to try, they are available in many different countries and typically cost under $10 each when you buy them directly from IKEA. They will say they need their own gateway, but they don’t: these are Zigbee devices and can be used directly with a smartthings hub.

image

One of the reasons that was such a bad answer is that IKEA is listed by brand in the smartthings app: no custom code is required.


Also, you know, Aeotec which has several Z wave buttons as well as the forthcoming Zigbee option.

  1. Flic Buttons are expensive, but well-built and have some features that most of the other buttons don’t. They do have a manufacturer-provided smartthings integration. you do need their hub for the smartthings integration. One of the big features of these is that they can trigger an Alexa routine, which so far no other buttons can Except the gigantic Echo brand buttons. I have these in my own home and like them, but they are expensive. available in many countries.
  1. Zooz. US only. Zwave. They have some really nice battery operated devices. They provide the custom code that you will need. One looks exactly like a regular rocker light switch. These have been very popular in the community.

There are a number of other options, but they are generally only available in one region. See the community FAQ.

[2021] Battery Power Switches and Buttons [NEEDS UPDATING]

@Brad_ST

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A Zigbee device can only belong to one hub. So normally you would connect those directly to your smartthings hub, not using their own gateway.

However: if the company provides a cloud to cloud integration between their gateway and the Internet, then you may be able to use a Zigbee device with its own gateway and bring it into smartthings as well. The hue bridge is probably the best known system of this type. You can bring the bridge itself into smartthings with a cloud to cloud integration and then it will show you some of the Zigbee devices that are connected to it.

There are a few other Zigbee hubs which have an Ifttt or Alexa integration which you could also use as an intermediary.

At the present time, aqara has a good HomeKit integration so some people use an aqara hub and HomeKit and bring smartthings over via homebridge, but if you aren’t already doing that, I don’t think you would start just for a single button.

So… normally you cannot connect a different brand of Zigbee hub to your smartthings account. However, if that hub provides a cloud to cloud integration or uses another intermediary, it might be possible to expose the end devices to smartthings that way. It just depends on the exact model.

Wow - Thank you for such a detailed response. I have had several calls with Samsung Smartthings support. Most have been very helpful with very knowledgeable agents. On the last call, the agent seemed knowledgeable enough - I clearly understand the difference between supported and unsupported - I was sort of surprised by the answer that they don’t “support” any actively sold products directly. This was after a lengthy hold time - where I assumed the agent was discussing with others in the support team. So thank you! These are several good directions to pursue.

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Ok, maybe this is a terminology issue.

It’s true that the Samsung SmartThings support line does not provide support for any hardware devices at this time, because they’re getting out of the smartthings hardware business. For example, the Aeotec branded devices will be “supported“ by the Aeotec helpdesk. Not the Samsung helpdesk. So I guess technically that was a correct answer, but still not the right one.

If you open the smartthings app, click on the + in the upper right corner, and choose devices, you can then look under the category “remotes/buttons“ and see multiple brands that have buttons that work out of the box with smartthings. Including IKEA and Aeotec. So the rep should’ve known enough to at least point you to that section of the app.

There are some additional brands, such as Flic, which maybe The rep would not have known about. Those integrations are provided by the manufacturer, but do not yet show up in the ST app.

But at the very least the rep should’ve known that Aeotec would be coming out with the rebranded version of the original SmartThings button. JMO , of course.

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I would absolutely recommend that you steer clear of IKEA buttons until it’s confirmed that the battery issue is fixed (been ongoing for months now). Ive just finished replacing all of mine with aotec buttons - as a bonus they double as temperature sensors which has allowed me to set up some nifty heating automations

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The thing about the IKEA buttons is that not everybody has a problem. In fact, it looks like the majority of people don’t have a problem. But the people who do have a problem don’t seem to have a fix for it. It’s really frustrating. :disappointed_relieved: In one case, a community member even sent a button that had the problem into smartthings engineering, and they didn’t have the same problem with it on their network.

So my suggestion is that people consider trying one with the understanding that they may run into the battery problem and if they do they will have to return it. But if you don’t have the problem, they’re good devices.

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What Aeotec product did you use? I don’t see a product that provides that functionality.

Thank you

It’s this one from JDRoberts post

From the device page you can assign different actions for single press, double press and long press, and also see the temperature which can be used in automations.
It also executes locally which the IKEA buttons currently do not

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i cant recommend the aeotec nanomote 4 button enough either. its brilliant i have programmed mine to arm disarm home alarm plus be panic button. and its rechargeable too