Samsung Galaxy Upcycle - Use old phones for IoT with new Firmware

I wanted to bring the communities attention to this…

https://galaxyupcycling.github.io

I’d love for the developers that make this place so great to donate time to Galaxy Upcycle (GU). A project Samsung just announced for replacing firmware on their Galaxy phones for use on many projects. Bitcoin mining, fish tank monitoring, CCTV, etc, are just some examples you can use your old phones.

Now just imagine how epic it would be if GU IoT devices talk to our ST Hubs!!

Thanks

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That’s a great idea to fight against programmed obsolescence. Thanks for sharing. Eager to have them launching that

4 years later this is happening

There’s been an active discussion on how this new feature will work with smartthings in the following thread. (The topic title is a clickable link.) However note that the sensor feature will only work with models that are galaxy 9 or newer.

I have tried to install this on my old Note 9 but everytime I receive an error code, stating that the app is not available. I reported it the Samsung Smartthings but the response was not very helpful, simply stating they need more info from me.

What was promised vs. what was delivered.

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Maybe this thread should have what Samsung Galaxy devices with work or do not work with SmartThings Labs Upcycle.

The Galaxy S8+ smartphone does not work, it just reports that content not available.

The Galaxy S6 Tab does not work, it just reports that content not available.

During the initial Upcycle setup, this statement appears at the bottom:

“You’ll need an old phone to use as a sensor. (Galaxy S9/Note 9 or higher)”

I was hoping this was just fluff to get us to buy new phones, unfortunately it seems to be true. I’ve tried many workarounds but cannot get this feature to work on any of my older devices (pre-S9).

Bummer.