SmartThings Hub Version 2.0

At the risk of stringing you all along more - if there are any specific questions you have about functionality I’ll do my best to answer in this thread. I cannot comment on the timing of the release except to say that it’s soon.

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I have to say, the very question is sort of “stringy” :).

Seriously, though, instead of having us fish for bits and pieces, can’t you just tell us what’s going to change? And by this I mean:

V2 hub new features
How local processing will work
Any gotchas for existing users
App changes
Website changes
Developer portal changes
Device support enhancements
Overall new features, whether that be ability to control devices from website, groovy changes, etc.

That might cover it :).

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Oh yeah, one more question… will scheduled processing consistently work without randomly just stopping?

See this thread…

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Read the 904 posts above yours for those answers :smile:

I’ll try to take a shot at this post later today.

There are a few issues that contribute to that problem, but the scheduler for Hub V2 runs locally so it would at least get rid of problems related to cloud scheduling. I’m not that expert on that one though.

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Nah… You forgot to ask for all of SmartThings’s strategic plans, sales figures, quarterly targets, gross margins, trade secrets, source code, and full list of employees with their salaries and performance reviews. /jk :smirk:

V2 hub new features

Local Device Type execution and SmartApp processing
BLE (Future use cases - micro presence and Bluetooth Smart device connectivity)
Backup battery (combined with local processing this enables security use cases during power and internet outages)
Local storage
2 USB ports for expandability (WiFi, other HA radios, etc.)

How local processing works

“How” is a question that I won’t attempt to answer too deeply as I’m not a software engineer or architect. Simply put, we’ve shrunk the cloud stack down so that the necessary parts can run on the hub itself. This means that most SmartApps and Device Types can live on the hub itself. This will reduce the latency with commands and improve stability compared to a cloud connected hub.

Any gotchas for existing users

No Hub 1 → Hub 2 migration tool available at launch
Some integrations in the future may require Hub V2. This may include local streaming of video or improved LAN connectivity.

App changes

Nothing new to announce here. Watch this video for info on the direction we’re headed.

Website changes
Developer portal changes

We launched an updated consumer site this week at http://smartthings.com. It’ll get some more updates around V2 launch. The developer portal (not the IDE, but http://smartthings.com/developers) is being updated as well to reduce the friction to get started on the SmartThings platform.

Device support enhancements

Nothing to announce here related to V2. The processing power and other features of V2 are going to enable us to do a lot - one thing that we’ve already been working on is improvements to existing LAN integrations using local processing on V2.

Overall new features, whether that be ability to control devices from website, groovy changes, etc.

Device control from the site will not be part of our 2015 V2 launch. I can’t speak to Groovy changes.

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@Tyler Good luck…

Hub v2 questions:

-Does it have any different local hubaction support?
-Does it have UDP support?
-Does it have websocket / telnet / raw socket support?
-Does it support local file storage / cache?
-Does it support local device status update without going up to cloud? For example, can I just access the local ip of the hub to find out if a light is on? Can I send a local hub command to turn off a light, or does that have to go to cloud?

  • How will local smartApp processing work? What is really local?
    -What happens to my house when the internet cuts off? when the ethernet cable is unplugged from hub? Do the radios still relay commands?
    -I believe recharging batteries will not be supported, but how will battery level be reported on the hub?
    -How will multiple hubs be handled in a single location? Same as now chosing a hub / location?
    -Any user level controls, ie read only mode, or limit access to specific devices?
    -Will the hub support IPv6?

Just to name a few of my outstanding questions…

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jk

I’ll see what I can find for you

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How did you record my visit to ST MN?

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Wait - did you say your Sonos works fine and your lights work fine? Man, I wish. I totally gave up on Sonos. And I get my Hue lights turning on based on motion sensors and such and then…nothing. They just stop working. Again and again. Sometimes it’s a minor thing to get them going again (changing as little as a one-minute increment on “turn off after” or something). Most of the time it requires uninstalling and reinstalling the HUE integration and all the bulbs - and spending time reinstalling and setting up all the SmartApps again.

Still, I’m happy to know that someone can make this work. Maybe there’s still hope.

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There were a few here that I can answer without running around the office:

-What happens to my house when the internet cuts off?

In this scenario you’ve lost internet but you still have power. The SmartThings Mobile app will report that the hub is offline after the hub misses a ping or two. Because the internet is out you won’t receive SmartThings notifications on your phone.

Any SmartApps that are eligible to run locally will continue to run while the internet is out. For example, I have an automation that turns on my closet lights when motion is detected. This automation would still work with the internet out. More seriously though, a security set up like door sensors/motion sensors + a siren would still work - but you wouldn’t receive a notification since the hub can’t communicate to our push notification service.

In these cases the radios in the hub still function and commands/events still transmit to and from the hub. Events to the cloud are queued (I don’t know how long or how many) and sent when internet is restored.

-Any user level controls, ie read only mode, or limit access to specific devices?

Not as part of our upcoming V2 launch but on our roadmap.

-Does it support local file storage / cache?

Not exposed to developers at launch. I’m not sure on our longer term strategy on this one so I’ll check internally.

I’m working on the rest of the questions.

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So, no way to connect serial devices via USB-to-serial dongle for example? That’s what I thought. :frowning:

Just jail break the thing and add the drivers…

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I don’t think I want SmartThings’ Public Enemy No. 1 badge. :smile:

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I don’t see why not - it’s just up to us to enable and document support for this kind of thing.

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Well Tyler… You know that indeed it is easy to say that, and perhaps even easy to implement, but agility of this sort is still rare from SmartThings, wouldn’t you agree?

We’re seeing some wonderful incremental features (e.g., IDE editor features @Dianoga!) come out at a much faster pace, so I guess optimism is appropriate.

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Since Hub v2 will be powered by linux, will we get SSH access? My linux isn’t too great, but surely NAS is possible.

Totally fair, but it’s becoming more common :slight_smile: We have 3-4x the number of employees we did a year ago. I can’t wait until you all can experience our upcoming releases.

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I’ve been talking to a few engineers about this. I see it happening.

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Did you talk to some engineers or a magic 8 ball? :smile:

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