Thanks for sharing this @buster. I’d heard from Maddie that the new solution would be a monthly subscription and assumed (based on what the FAQ page implied) that there were missing API functions that they were waiting on Samsung to offer. From everything I’ve read these advanced third party integrations have always been pretty far down in the list of priorities for Samsung itself. They don’t seem to appreciate the value of the ecosystem in keeping customers on their products and (perhaps) think they’re better off building out inferior first party solutions than supporting the third party developers who’ve already built them. The fact that they don’t get a cut of the revenue share of these third party tools certainly gives them little financial incentive to continue supporting them.
So a couple questions + considerations:
Questions:
- Post 12/31, will we still have access to the Groovy (graph.api…) site or will that immediately disappear in this Sharknado-class fiery explosion of website catastrophe?
- If a lock’s using a custom device handler (like RBoy’s thermostat and lock apps) how do we know whether basic functionality (like manually adjust temp or setting manual lock codes) will remain after 12/31/22? While an inconvenience, I can staff up to cover some manually codes generation for the first month through the first party Lock Manager app from SmartThings while working on replacement of the hardware locks…
Considerations:
- For those of you rental mangers using newer, WiFi-based smart locks (ie: Schlage Encode / Sense locks or Yale/August locks) or separate channel managers, you may have the ability to integrate in with your reservations and set codes directly: whether by the lock’s API itself or channel manager’s integration with platform.
Here’s a few specifically:
- Guesty for Hosts aka: YourPorter. Allow for automated generation of guest codes… at a cost of $0.75/booking.
- August Locks direct AirBnB integration integrates directly with AirBnB with (what appears to be) no monthly/subscription costs.
- Igloo Algorithmic Locks (one the nicer new smart locks solutions I’ve tested) and Igloo’s direct AirBnB integration has no monthly fee or subscription costs to set codes. The deadbolt lock’s also 1/2 the cost of comparable Schlage locks, works offline, and has a 9V battery backup option in case of total battery drain.
- Schlage Encode integration [appears to rely on RemoteLock’s subscription] (supportRmoteLock) but may be an option for some folks looking for a plug and play option and already have the hardware.
- KeyCafe is not really “smart” integration in that you’re still using a key, but at least you’re allow for automated exchange of keys with tracking.