Hi,
I’m new to SmartThings.
Having to do the initial setup on a phone is pretty stupid, but hopefully that is the last time I need to use it. It is such a slow, brain dead way of setting things up.
Where do I find the web interface for connecting new devices, setting them up, rules, scenes etc.?
Thanks,
Dave
Sadly, there isn’t one. ST is designed as a mobile app.
With that being said, Actiontiles is web based and can do things for ST. It’s made by community developers.
Thanks for your reply tpip, but I am horrified I can’t set things up from my computer. Doing anything on a touch screen device / app is so slow compare with using a computer with a mouse and keyboard.
Looks like my foray into SmartThings is gong to be very brief.
How bizarre…
Thanks,
Dave
That’s the reason ActionTiles was created. There are things that were made by the community developers here that ST dropped the ball on. The developers have been done great work with all the codes etc.
ActionTiles is very popular, and is a dashboard used for control of devices that you have already added to your account. It’s not used for setting up rules or scenes.
In addition to the official features available through the mobile app, there is a free community-created rules engine, very sophisticated, which does have a web interface and is essentially a scripting language for SmartThings. It is very popular with community members who have a good technical background, so I don’t know if that would be of interest to you or not.
Give it a chance. It’s not so bad after the learning curve. There is an api you can check out if you haven’t yet.
Yeah, maybe I was a bit grumpy about it…
Having just wasted 10 minutes trying to register on a phone, when it could have taken 1 minute on a computer, had pissed me off.
I don’t mind using the phone as an end user interface, but I can’t for the life of me see it as being anything other than incredibly slow and frustrating when it comes to setting things up. Having to work at a pace dictated by using big fingers on a tiny touchscreen keyboard isn’t my idea of time well spent.
Anyway, sounds like there might be some options for using a PC for some setup - thanks for that.
I must be too old to understand the appeal of doing detailed, substantial work on a tiny, slow, constrained device when you don’t have too.
Dave
The phone isn’t that bad really. But I would like the option to have the same interface from ST on a web version.
Just to make sure we’re being clear, the only way to add new zwave/zigbee devices to your account is through the official mobile app.
There is an official web interface to your account, but you can’t actually see The details of any of your rules or scenes there, just your devices. And again, you can’t add new physical devices to your account that way.
When it comes to setting up rules, webcore is available.
When it comes to operating your devices after they have been added to your account, that is toggling them on or off or changing the dim level, you can use a dashboard like ActionTiles.
But for reasons known only to Samsung, you can’t initiate the protocol that adds a zigbee or zwave device to your account except through the mobile app.
SmartThings is a very powerful, flexible system, but the UI just isn’t very intuitive or easily discoverable. You can always contact support or come here to the forum and ask if you can’t figure out how to do something. Trust me, we’ve all been there. 
I’d just like a phone app I could use, period. 
But you know that story.
Appreciate the commentary.
I am currently using Zipato for z-wave, with about 30 devices connected. This was a look at SmartThings to see if I am interested in changing.
I suspect my conclusion will be to keep using Zipato, and maybe one or two devices through SmartThings.
Whilst my first look at the device and interface hasn’t been encouraging, the support community certainly looks great - thanks!
Dave
There’s also a welcome letter in the community – created wiki that you might find of interest:
Who even uses a computer outside of work anymore???
Clicking/keyboard is old school!
Developers and technical people use computers. End users, heavy end users, non-techies, and gamers use app devices. Those toys are made possible by the old-school techies. 
I use a laptop all the time at home. I hate using my phone to navigate the internet. A couple of online games I play are only on computers, no phone or tablet interface.
The mobile only issue bothered me at first too. I happened to have a PC with a bad hard drive that someone was getting rid of. I put Remix OS (android on x86)on it and it has worked pretty well. Remix OS has been discontinued, but it looks like it is still available on http://www.android-x86.org/. I haven’t tried any of the other x86-android builds. I am running it off of a USB2 drive. This has worked for a couple of years at my weekend home. Even my smartphone-less mother, who visits during the week to garden, can access SmartThings if needed.
Pros:
Android with regular SmartThings Classic app, full keyboard, mouse and largish screen.
Uses older hardware that was destined for landfill.
Sleeps automatically, so overall power draw is low.
Wakes up in a couple of seconds.
Doubles as a web browser for my mother when she is visiting.
Cons
If you haven’t woken it up for a while, you can get a lot of notifications from the server and have to wait for them to load and then clear them out. (*)
Restarting from the USB drive takes a few minutes, but that is needed rarely.
It takes up more space than a phone or tablet.
Getting an old PC or laptop shouldn’t be too hard. Given the pile I have, it seems too easy to for my family. You could probably even run something virtually on a regular PC.
(*) The notifications are caused by my smartphone-less mother setting off all the door and motion alarms when the battery in her Samsung key fob has died (again). I can have her disable the alarm from the PC once she gets in, but then I have to remember to check to see if she turned it back on after leaving. It is easier and safer just to get the alerts.
Ohh glad i read this, I much prefer web interfaces I just can’t get on with phones, definitely a downside for me now i am looking at smart hubs. Are all smart hubs like this with no user interface for laptops?
seems the smartthings classic app no longer exists for iOS; so we can no longer add new devices except the ones already compatible with smartthings!
i have added device handlers and smartApps from the web interface but NO WAY to actually add a new device, such as Hive, or Kasa.
Thoughts?
I too like using a keyboard and mouse for certain tasks. Especially where it requires entering text/data. I don’t even like typing on the phone screen for texting other than “OMG” or “LOL”. One of the best things I’ve found to get around my “tiny-screen-typing-phobia” is Samsung SideSync. If you have a Samsung phone and a PC, its a must-have app. It displays your phone screen on your PC and allows you to use your keyboard and mouse to enter data and navigate around the phone. It does that and much more. Check it out at https://www.samsung.com/us/sidesync/
HTH,
Todd