"SmartThings Classic" vs "SmartThings (Samsung Connect)"

Time doesn’t do me any good at all. We don’t have a regular schedule.

How does the new button tie into any of the new app automations? I don’t have one of those buttons, so can’t see it myself. But again, kinda useless.

But I get your point…:slight_smile:

The new button has automations that can be setup directly from the device screen in the new app. And those automations seem to have special permissions for arming/disarming SHM.

Not having a button I guess I wouldn’t see that. Maybe I need to buy one. For $15 not too bad.

Another thing I just ran into. In Smart Lighting, and this is probably the same with both apps. I have a dumb motion sensor that I tied into a relay. i then use the relay to turn on some lights. But in Smart Lighting you can’t use an off timer for a switch. You can for a contact, but not a switch. I have a work around, but it’s frustrating that ST doesn’t think you need to do that.

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I hope people don’t get the wrong idea about the things I am saying on this thread. I am not upset with ST in any way. Just trying to point out things I find. My system as a whole is and has been working just fine.

I have a number of smartapps that I wrote for my own use. Did this mainly to learn groovy and to be able to experiment as to how I wanted things to work. Over a period of a few months I got them doing what I want and was satisfied.

On the assumption that at some point in time we would have to switch to the new connect app, I thought I would start experimenting with that. So I have taken what I ended up with in my smartapps and redid them using the new automations in the new app. And that is how I am finding some simple things that one would think could be done.

My big concern is that groovy smartapps will at some point be no longer supported or usable. I have never really seen a definitive comment from ST about that. Or at least I can’t find one. With the new API system it appears that anything special would have to be self hosted. I can do a little programming, but looking at that system has gotten me lost. At my age the mind just isn’t up to all that new-fangled stuff that you younger guys, and gals, already know. :slight_smile:

Thus one of the reasons I’m trying to port things over to the new automations.

And that’s my story and I’m sticking to it…

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Don’t hold your breath for a “definitive comment” — deprecation and disablement is inevitable, but who knows how much notice Samsung will choose to offer.

You can be a little optimistic regarding the “self-hosting” requirement, though. All that’s really needed is a Cloud Function Provider (Amazon calls them Lambdas - and low usage accounts are free), and a step-by-step guide will certainly be written by Community Member(s) once the API stabilizes.

There’s real potential that this could end up being easier (than the clunky but well intentioned and well serving Groovy API) for small scope developers, believe it or not.

The worst part of the new ecosystem is the transition. Let’s hold hope that the destination is way better than the journey. :smiley:

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Terry, I sincerely love your optimism! I am hoping for the best as well, but I am expecting the worse. :slight_smile:

On the topic of ‘hope’…I’ll just leave this here… :wink:

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I agree on any definitive comment from ST.

I do have a Lambda account. Played around with the new API somewhat when it first was announced, using the example. But never could get it to work and didn’t fully understand it.

With Groovy there was a nice fill in the blank template. And the language was pretty simple for those of us used to the old basic and C. (Did a lot of that about 30 years ago, but not much since.)

I’m hoping that someone will come out with a fill in the blank template for the new system at some point also.

However, if ST keeps dragging their feet on the transition, I won’t have to worry about it anyway. I may be gone by then…:slight_smile:

One of my favorite quotes lately… :wink:

image

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Well… You did post the 666th comment on this topic. :imp:

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LOL - That’s great!

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My question is: Can I stop using the SmartThings classic app and switch to the new App? I have few devices (mainly light switches) and basic automations. I have both apps installed in my phone and both are sending me notifications and I can see all my devices in the new app.

I think you’ve answered your own question. The one thing to check is to make sure you’re not using the Classic App for mobile presence in any automations.

Mainly I asked because I was not sure if the new app is ready or not to replace the classic app. No I am not using the mobile presence in any automation

Thanks

This is my running list of things I would need to get basic functionality fully working in the new Smartthigns app. Nothing about custom device handlers or apps, just about using standard devices and functionality I would expect to work for a smart home.

  • Is Life360 support gone and only internal presence? I had it setup, but when you click in the new app on the device I got an error, also could not use in automations as a location - UPDATED
  • Do you plan to show internal presence users and status in the new app? I can see them in the old app, the ones created by the new app. I have the new presence working, but it’s got massive delays, by multiple minutes, but it is working - UPDATED
  • It appears auto unlock will not be a presence feature, is that confirmed, for now using my August app to do it, no fun having so many apps doing geo work on my device
  • Will you officially support a keypad, something new, the Iris, or Centralite, or at least the device type, especially if we don’t have presence, we need to be able to arm/disarm the alarm without just the phone, is a Smartthings button the only option here right now?
  • The SH Delay feature is nice, but it is for all sensors, you should be able to select which sensors have a delay and which ones do not, usually only 1-2 entry doors have a delay and the rest of the sensors do not
  • You should be able to set a mode from a scene, I know you can from an automation, but sometimes I want to just run a scene manually and I want the mode to change
  • Automations should be able to set SH modes such as Arm Away, Arm Stay, and Disarm, some forum members showed screenshots, but I cannot make this work or show up at all - UPDATED
  • Automations need to support the NOT operator, so I should be able to set an Automation to run when NOT in mode Home or Stay
  • Automations need to support multiple IF and IF NOT operations for things like SH status or Mode - NEW
  • Automations should support “run once a day”, very useful for wake up automations or automations based on motions - UPDATED
  • Automations do not support IF conditions with Mode, so I cannot say run this only IF in a certain mode - NEW
  • SH custom alerts are gone, example, send notification if a door is open for longer than 2 minutes, play sound when a door is open/closed, this could just be a new automation maybe? Anyone have any idea how to do this?
  • Is Scout alarm support gone? If not, when will that come back, if so, will ADT be offered to regular customers? Will this support an alarm company at all? - UPDATED
  • You need the ability to order/sort the rooms on the Devices page
  • You need the option on the main Devices page to filter by Room, if you have a lot of rooms scrolling left/right takes too long
  • Smartthings button needs to support Toggle functionality, you have to use two actions just to turn a light on and off - NEW
  • We need the ability to repair the z-wave network in some sort of settings section

David

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Umm… I Think…


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Or … should i say…


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But really i mean…


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I added some updates to my post. It’s all about what I would need to switch, for just being a regular user. Nothing about custom devices or handlers or apps, just if I was a new user, using standard equipment, the things it’s missing.

I removed stuff about ActionTiles and figured out how to do the Geo location in the new app. You click to edit the Location on the Devices page, from there you can click the Geo location and it let’s you expand the size of the area, so found that.

I decided to setup Home Assistant… I have it running on my server, in VirtualBox, in Docker. I’ve got most of my devices moved over and things working. It’s got a steep learning curve, but seems like it can do everything.

So I was one of those guys that got bamboozled by the two SmartThings apps. I actually liked the newer app better until I found out what it didn’t have. And I kept on having this problem where it would keep on adding my Iphone every time I tried connecting something. (Shouldn’t there be a way to cancel a connection?) But yes i finally figured out that I should not use the newer app yet. The new user experience is very strange. If I was a normal person / casual consumer I would have a hard time with this stuff. Then I come to find out that the reason they are creating a newer app is to make the experience greater? Oh well. Fun stuff

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You are not alone. This from a nearly 4 yrs ST user, I have 4-5 same mobile device presence in the new app. We all use the classic app. :wink: Even on the classic app, looks like my wife is still away at nearly 3:00 AM. She is right next to me at home.

So how can we ever fully rely on ARMING security? I mean besides my cat tripping the sensors sporadically lol