Using smart things with non compatible devices?

Is it possible to use non smart things devices with smart things?

Here’s the scenario, I have a smartthings hub and a multipurpose sensor along with Alexa, and some sockets and lightbulbs which were bought off amazon and are cheap ones and not smart things compatible I want to if this is possible have it set up so when the temp drops this will trigger the plug being switched on

Tia

It depends on the devices and what protocols or integrations they support.

2 Likes

By definition “non-compatible“ would mean you could not use them. So I suspect you mean something else by that.

If you mean a device which is not on the official compatibility list, or does not have an official integration, then it depends very much on the protocol that that particular device uses to communicate.

If the device is certified for Z wave, it will probably work with SmartThings. If it is certified for the zigbee home automation profile (ZHA) Then it may be able to work with smartthings, depending on the commands that it uses. However, in both instances custom code may be required.

Since you said “cheap“ devices, though, that probably means either Wi-Fi devices or zigbee devices which are not using the ZHA profile. Or maybe Bluetooth devices. In that case, you may be able to get some partial integration in any of several different ways, it just depends on the exact details of each brand/model device. Since you also said “Amazon“ if the device works with the Amazon echo, then you probably can get at least partial integration.

Here are three community FAQs you can read for more information. These are clickable links.

The first just explains which protocols are very likely to work with SmartThings:

The second discusses Wi-Fi devices, and the various ways you might be able to get those to work with smartthings:

The third discusses using the Amazon echo as a “man in the middle“ by using Amazon routines.

On the other hand, if the device is an inexpensive device which uses its own frequency or protocol, and doesn’t work with Alexa (such as the Skynet door openers), there just may not be any way to make it work with SmartThings Without either changing the wiring or adding additional devices and/or physical actuators which would add a lot of expense, so probably isn’t what you were looking for. That sometimes comes up particularly for people with disabilities who have a device they just really really want to make work and are not as concerned about the project cost. So if that’s the situation you’re in, let us know, and we can see what might be done. But again we would need to know the exact brand/model of the device you hope to integrate.

2 Likes

It would also help us to know which phone app the plugs use.

2 Likes

And to add to @DavinD ‘s Comment, in addition to the app that the plugs themselves use, we should also ask:

  1. are you using android or iOS devices? There are some integration options for Tasker on android, for example, which are not available on iOS. On the other hand, there are some options with Siri shortcuts for iOS which are not available on android.

  2. Which version of the smartthings app are you using? There are two: “smartthings classic“ and “smartthings (Samsung connect).“ in the forum you will typically see the second one referred to as “STSC “ or “the new app.“ anyway, they have different integration options.

  3. Which version of the smartthings hub do you have? In particular, the Nvidia shield model doesn’t have quite as many integration options as the others.

  4. and finally, which country are you in? It doesn’t usually make too much difference to this particular topic, but there are a few issues that can come up.