Huge SmartThings update drops with some Galaxy Note 20 Ultra extras

Last updated: August 24th, 2020 at 18:53 UTC+01:00

The latest SmartThings update is here and wow, practise we have a lot to talk about. As of Monday morning CET, this new SmartThings version, build number 1.7.51.42, was only available for download from the Google Play Store. Its Galaxy Store page is yet on last month'due south update, so brand sure you're trying to upgrade from the correct store if you lot're having issues with getting the release to actually evidence up on your end. But anyhow: new automation vectors, expanded QR code support, more accessibility improvements, including a partial UI rework – those are but some of the new SmartThings™ Samsung is now offering on most modern Galaxy devices.

But only one of those is now able to take advantage of several major efficiency improvements to SmartThings. Naturally, that would be the Milky way Note 20 Ultra, Samsung'south latest flagship which comes packed with a multifariousness of cutting-edge tech – including support for refined ultra wideband (UWB) radio transmissions. It can now leverage those in conjunction with augmented reality (AR) in order to assist you locate your IoT gadgets faster or interact with them more than intuitively once you do. So, while you will hopefully never lose your car, you might find it at present integrates with SmartThings in a much more than seamless manner, largely due to the raw gains in encryption key sharing speeds supported by the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.

We could become used to these massive SmartThings updates

The new SmartThings update also introduces plenty of other novelties and improvements, all of which are much more than widely accessible. One of those is a redesigned Automation Configuration menu that now offers more response if-and so triggers so as to speed upwardly any (re)programming attempt on your end. Speaking of automation, it got 2 new conditions in this latest SmartThings build. One of them is atmospheric condition, so you can at present have your Internet-enabled household automatically play Tears in Heaven whenever it rains, for instance. The other is Linked Places which allows you to e.grand. have Bixby message home that you'll be belatedly whenever yous enter your psychiatrist's office in lodge to deal with the emotional impact of listening to Tears on Sky the day earlier.

SmartThings currently supports a maximum of three Linked Places, though strangely enough, its functionality is limited by the number of Galaxy devices yous have. For the uninitiated, SmartThings also works on third-party devices as it'due south been a while since Samsung gave upward on its ambition of selling its smartphones to entire families at all costs. In Jan of 2018, to be more specific. That'south why information technology seems strange to limit Linked Places to just Milky way smartphones given how third-party devices are otherwise able to benefit from almost every other feature of the app. In fact, information technology'south possible this is simply a bug that will be ironed out in the coming weeks.

Furthermore, y'all can now get weather updates on the Location Summary screen, though they're express to automated refreshes at 20-minute intervals. Of course, this will crave the geofencing setting to be enabled, though that shouldn't be a detriment in any meaningful way since the feature doesn't use GPS but instead relies solely on existing cellular data your phone is already constantly exchanging with nearby towers whatever you do – except when y'all enable Airplane Mode. Finally, this enormous SmartThings update also expands the Android app's QR lawmaking support. Information technology does then by allowing y'all to scan multiple Zigbee 3.0 QR ciphers during a unmarried setup, which finally makes it every bit useful equally Google Lens for stuff like speedily getting your new mesh network up and running in no time.