Smart Things step by steps / explanation guides?

Welcome!

This will explain the terminology and the basic concepts of smartapps and device type handlers. ( The thread title is a clickable link. Note that this thread is also on the get started list.)

And this one is the old “intro to scheduling” FAQ. The problem is that smartthings is In a major period of transition right now: new app, new cloud, new rules engine, new hub. But nothing is quite finished yet, so many people are having to use both the old and the new in order to get all the functionality that they want. And if you are using the new (which is required to set up the new hubs), it is missing some of the features from the old. So it’s all pretty confusing for everybody right now. :scream:

( this is a clickable link)

If you only want to stick with the new app, that’s fine, but then you should just use the official knowledgebase articles that @sidjohn1 linked to above, and a lot of the stuff in the forum will not make any sense to you.

Official explanation of why there are two apps:

https://support.smartthings.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000114006-New-SmartThings-app-FAQ

If you want to use both apps, which is what many people are doing right now, then there will be a lot more to absorb, but you will also get a lot more functionality out of your system and be able to use many more devices. So that’s really up to you.

People in the forum will always be glad to help if you get confused at any one point.

Oh, and before I forget, here is the community FAQ on modes, and it should clear up the confusion and applies to both the new and the old app although the terminology is just a bit different:

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And as far as webcore, it’s essentially a scripting language for smartthings. Very powerful, but most people won’t need it. There are other simpler alternatives available, including the official features, but they can’t handle rules which are as complicated as Webcore can. So it just comes down to what you were trying to do.

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Thanks for your explanations and replies. Starting to make sense… but im about to rip my hair out…
I Just want to use smart things mainly as a secondary security system So after reading through the replies and the guide links, ive started to create some Automations.
But they dont seem to working correctly.
EG,
I want the living room lights to come on for 5 mins and to send me an alert, when the door sensor detects vibration only when the home monitoring is set to Away.
I noticed there is an (OBSCURE!) option to choose “when all of the following conditions are met” or “When any of the following conditions are met”

When i select “when all of the conditions are met”, nothing happens, banging on the door does nothing despite the sensor detecing vibration.

When i select “when any of the conditions are met”, naturally the thing triggers no matter whether the home monitoring is enabled or not…

How do i create this automation to work please?

Which app are you using… SmartThings classic or SmartThings (Samsung Connect)? Which hub do you have?

I have the latest hub recently released and the latest sensors. Using Smart things app. Not the classic one. Never used the old one and this is my very first time owning smart things so the system is brand new to me

Ok, let’s throw a 180 on you and recommend that you install and use the SmartThings Classic app at this point. :slight_smile:

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Really? whats different about the old one and arent they phasing that one out?
So use the classic one INSTEAD of this one?

Yes, the new app does not have all the functionality of the classic app. Plus, you will pobably have better luck with presence and automations in the classic app - at this point.

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Ah man. Do I have to delete the current app and re add all the sensors in the classic app?

No, just install the classic and login as new to SmartThings and use your Samsung login. All devices should show except Samsung TVs and appliances

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See the link in the post above yours. There are quite a few differences the biggest being that the new app does not work well with custom code. So there are many devices which will work with the old app that won’t work with the new one.

Support has told existing customers to continue to use the old app until the new one is finished, unless they have a Samsung TV or appliance which requires the new one.

Also, the new app is dumbed down in some pretty significant ways. For example, there is no way to automate the unlocking of a smart lock in the new app. In the old app, you can have any event that smartthings can recognize, including Geo presence, unlock a smart lock. ( I am quadriparetic and need hands-free control of my doorlock, so this really jumped out at me.)

Also, in the new app there is no way to automate arming or disarming the security features except time of day. You cannot do it based on Geopresence, which is a very popular feature of the old app ( as in “automatically arm the security system when my phone leaves the house.”)

There are some things which are better in the new app, but there’s a lot more functionality in the old one.

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Understood, thanks…
Ok ive installed the classic and deleted the new app… Will try creating automations in the classic one now…

You don’t need to delete the new one, and you may need it for some hub management functions. Just keep both, and set up your automations and devices in the classic app for now.

I really cant see how to create the automation i want in the classic ??

Explore routines and smart lights


Cant see anywhere in the guide or classic app to configure vibration from door sensor to trigger lights to come on, send notification only when Smart Home Monitoring is set to Away / Stay…

Guys i give up, i really do. this is too complicated. Appreciate your help immensly but ive spent days on this now.
Total waste of money, over £1000. I still dont get the different modes, Home, away, stay, Night, etc. makes no sense. Just going to use the bog standard Smart home monitor and nothing else.
I may revisit this in a year or so when technology advances.
Pfft, and they want to make AI… polish the current tech first.
Bye…

The one in Post nine above?

Try smart home monitor custom notification.

https://support.smartthings.com/hc/en-us/articles/205380154-Smart-Home-Monitor#Configure_CustomClassic

There’s a way to get them to turn off again after five minutes, but you’ll have to create a virtual timer. See the following wiki article:

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

The whole point of this is that classic smartthings is very powerful, but not very discoverable. You may need to post a question in the following section of the forum and then people will help you figure it out. Please put only one use case per thread.

https://community.smartthings.com/c/smartapps/smartapp-ideas

Or you could definitely do the whole thing with the webcore, although I know you said you didn’t want to use that.

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I wouldn’t throw in the towel yet. When I first started it was a ton of information all at once and I got flustered several time. But now that I worked through most of the kinks i get exactly what i want from smartthings and you will too if you spend some time and can work through getting irritated at some things.
The new app is being updated pretty regularly to add all the functionality that the old app has, but it’s not there yet.
You’ve got people way smarter than me here that’ll answer your questions and help you get things rolling. It gets easier after you’ve gone through the steps of setting up a few routines.
Not everything works as easily as I want either, it’s just a bit of work figuring it out. Then after you do you get the satisfaction of watching your house react the way you want it to, and it’s pretty sweet.

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The reason Samsung wants to make AI (artificial intelligence, Bixby) is to eliminate all the frustration you have experienced.

The degree to which consumers find SmartThings varies considerably.
… Regardless, the only way it will become universally usable is via AI.

And Samsung has implied this is their end-game multiple times. The current SmartThings is usable with patience, and luck, and Community assistance; but really, this is just an extended beta test of the base platform upon which AI will be added.

No problem, it’s definitely confusing in the current phase. I think it’s one of the reasons that Samsung is dumbing down the new app. They’re deciding to give people less functionality but make it much more intuitive. It’s not a bad market strategy in and of itself, and, as @tgauchat said, their endgame is something altogether different, where you just talk to the voice assistant and it sort of figures out what you need and sets it up for you. But we’re not there yet.

The important thing is to find something that works for you, even if it doesn’t do everything you’d like to have. So if this all feels like too much work, it makes perfect sense to move on to something more straightforward. :sunglasses:

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