I just got the new iOS app update with the same new features that Android received a few days ago.
Unfortunately 1.7.33 also introduced popup adds on the home screen 
(I guess it goes along with the first bullet point). Thankfully it appears that you can suppress them by selecting Menu, Settings, and then toggling off Special suggestions. Spoke too soon…ads still appear…
I have suggestions turned off and I still get the ads.
Yeah, I spoke too soon. I’m still getting them too. Let’s hope there is some way to turn the very intrusive ads off…
Maybe that’s a bug in the iOS version not applying the setting?
In Android when you disable suggestions it will, ironically, display a new suggestion: “If you turn on Special suggestions in the settings, you can get helpful news or marketing offers on products”.
I tried something else and it appears (at least so for) to suppress the annoying popup ads on the Home screen. From the Home screen click on the 3 dots upper right. Select Home insight settings and toggle off Insight messages. Note that I also cleared all selections (except for number of members) in Home life (Menu, Home life, and select location) so not sure which setting really did it.
I have the Arlo camera linked service, and now all of my cameras in the iOS app appear as VERY LARGE ICONS in the device lists. YUK!
Are you kidding - pop ups now?
Waiting to update until it can be confirmed these can be turned off permanently.
Thanks.
I have not seen anymore popup ads since I made the changes I listed above.
The SmartThings app on Apple Watch is getting a new widget that should make controlling devices faster, as well as an update that lets you switch between locations and control individual devices on your watch.
I tried the text/voice prompt automatic routine creator. It came close, but not quite exactly what I asked:
-
for this prompt, I asked “turn the foyer chandelier on when the front door opens at night”. I expected a trigger with front door opening with a sunset to sunrise precondition. I got a trigger of sunset with a door open precondition.
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for this prompt I asked it to turn off my office lights if there was no motion for 15 minutes. It got the trigger right, but only added 2 of my 3 office lights.
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Perhaps not ready for Prime Time. But I suppose it might get folks started playing around with Routines. Unfortunately, the distinction between triggering events and pre-conditions continue to baffle a lot of people!
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Just for grins, I asked Perplexity (another AI service) the same question to see what it would do. It replied…
Creating a SmartThings Routine for Foyer Light Activation at Night
To create a SmartThings routine that turns on your foyer light when the front door opens at night, follow these steps:Required Components
• SmartThings Hub (already installed)
• SmartThings app on your smartphone
• Door sensor/contact sensor for your front door
• Smart light bulb or switch for your foyer lightSetting Up the Routine
- Open the SmartThings app on your smartphone
- Tap the plus (+) sign in the upper right corner of the home screen
- Select “Automation”
- Tap “Add condition”
- Select “Time”
- Choose “Period of time”
- Select “Night” (this will default to sunset to sunrise)
• You can adjust the start and end times if needed- Tap “Save” (you may get a message that the automation cannot be saved yet - this is normal)
- Tap “Device status”
- Select your front door sensor
- Choose “Open” as the trigger state
- Tap “Save”
- Now add the action by selecting your foyer light
- Choose “Turn on” as the action
- Tap “Save” and then “Done”
- Name your routine (e.g., “Foyer Light at Night”)
This routine will now automatically turn on your foyer light whenever the front door is opened between sunset and sunrise.
Optional Enhancements
If you also want the light to turn off when the door closes, you’ll need to create a second routine:- Follow the same steps as above
- When selecting the door sensor trigger, choose “Close” instead of “Open”
- For the action, select “Turn off” for your foyer light
You can also set a specific time range instead of using sunset/sunrise:
• During step 6, choose specific times (e.g., 7 PM to 5 AM)
For added convenience, you can modify the routine to work with your “Good Night” routine by:- In the “More Options” section, select “Only when mode is”
- Choose “Night” mode
- This will activate your door sensor routine whenever your SmartThings system is in “Night” mode
Your smart home setup is now enhanced with automated lighting that responds to door activity specifically during nighttime hours.
ask perplexity if it can write that in JSON for the SmartThings Rules API.
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And it returned the following…
To implement a SmartThings Rules API automation that turns on the foyer light when the front door opens at night, use the following JSON structure.
You’ll need the device IDs for your front door contact sensor and your foyer light switch, and you’ll use the system’s “mode” or time condition for “night” (typically sunset to sunrise, or by checking the location mode if it’s set to “Night”).
Here’s an example rule that combines these conditions using an and block and sends the “on” command to your foyer light when the door opens during night hours:
{
"name": "Turn on foyer light when front door opens at night",
"actions": [
{
"if": {
"and": [
{
"equals": {
"left": {
"device": {
"devices": ["FRONT_DOOR_SENSOR_ID"],
"component": "main",
"capability": "contactSensor",
"attribute": "contact"
}
},
"right": {
"string": "open"
}
}
},
{
"equals": {
"left": {
"location": {
"attribute": "mode"
}
},
"right": {
"string": "Night"
}
}
}
],
"then": [
{
"command": {
"devices": ["FOYER_LIGHT_ID"],
"commands": [
{
"component": "main",
"capability": "switch",
"command": "on",
"arguments": []
}
]
}
}
],
"else": []
}
}
]
}
Notes:
• Replace FRONT_DOOR_SENSOR_ID with the device ID of your contact sensor.
• Replace FOYER_LIGHT_ID with the device ID of your foyer light or smart switch.
• The mode attribute check assumes you use SmartThings location modes and have a “Night” mode defined for nighttime; if you prefer sunset/sunrise, you can use a time window condition (but modes are simpler and more robust for this use case).This rule uses “and” to ensure both conditions are true: the door opens and it’s night, before turning on the light.
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It works, I basically asked Perplexity to sync 2 smart switches.
In my case I have wired contacts on a garage door connected to the switch terminals of a ZigBee relay module. The door contracts open and close the relay in the module. And the ZigBee relay module is synced with the switch that is part of a vEdge virtual contact sensor. This allowed me to connect the wired contacts with STHM.
So, I ended up with one easy to write API Rule instead of 2 standard Routes to sync these devices.
I can’t use Smart lighting to Sync things because it has not worked for me in months.
2 Likes
@wags1 Still the case? I thought I made the same changes but once in a while something pops up when I first open the app. Not sure if it’s the same pop up, or something else, either way it’s about a service or device I don’t use.
Yes, still the case. I haven’t seen any pop up ads since I made that change.