This week’s show kicks off with our discussion of Amazon’s planned acquisition of iRobot, the maker of Roomba robotic vacuums for $1.7 billion. We then talk about a survey from Parks Associates that indicates almost a third of people using AirTag-style trackers to track people without their knowing and why users and companies must focus on consent. Then we hit on another ethics issue associated with a connected Epson printer that stops working after a set period of time, also unbeknownst to the user. In non-ethics news, Feit has purchased LIFX assets, Energous got FCC approval for sending up to 15 watts of power over the air for wireless charging and Qualcomm signed a deal with Global Foundries to ensure its chip supply through 2028. While on the topic of chips, we talk about software that runs on existing ESP32 that uses Wi-Fi for person detection and sensing, and future Apple products for the smart home. We end with a listener question about whether he should buy a new DIY hub and devices, or wait for Matter gear.
Our guest this week is Mark Benson, the head of Samsung SmartThings US. Benson is on the show to explain how SmartThings plans to eliminate the use of Groovy apps on hubs. The way forward is using APIs for cloud-to-cloud integrations, and LUA-based event handlers for smart apps that run locally. The final shift from Goovy takes place Sept. 30 so get ready for disruption if you have an older, niche routine or app on SmartThings, or update before then. Benson also shares more information on how SmartThings plans to support Matter and what it will mean for Samsung’s overall strategy in the smart home. We dig into what it means to be a Matter controller versus a Matter bridge and what role SmartThings will play. It’s a good show.
So did I hear that right? Smartthings will be a Matter controller, but not a bridge? As Stacey asked Zwave and Zigbee devices in Smartthings will NOT be exposed to other Matter Ecosystems, ie HomeKit? Those devices will still bridge out as usual to Google and Alexa integrations, just not via Matter? But still no Homekit access with Smartthings?
If that’s true, I have a gently used v.2 Smart Things hub available to a good home…
Yes, true. We’ve been discussing that aspect in the SmartThings community forums for a few months since Samsung first announced their plans.
https://community.smartthings.com/t/matter-smart-home-connectivity-standard-formerly-project-chip/180934
I personally find it disappointing, but there it is.
And Jimmy Hawkins pointed out the one-way nature of the SmartThings/Matter integration (Matter devices will be able to be added to the SmartThings app, but an ST hub and its associated devices will not be able to be added to other Matter-compatible apps) back in October 2021, after the Samsung Developers Conference:
“It’s also worth noting that Samsung is integrating Matter as a controller. That means Samsung products will not be exposed to other Matter controllers and a SmartThings hub will not act as a Matter bridge. No Samsung TV, soundbar, Zigbee, or Z-Wave device will be exposed to other Matter controllers like Apple HomeKit.”
https://www.thedigitalmediazone.com/2021/10/27/samsung-unveils-smartthings-matter-plans/
I’ve heard that originally. I kept holding out for a poorly worded press release or statement. I’ve been playing with Home Assistant lately. I was a Home-Seer user back with v.1.0 but used Smart Things for the app and phone support. I am hoping that someone releases a simple Z-wave-Matter bridge in the near future.
I’m concerned that my device with a custom handler will stop working on Sept 30 with the switch to Lua. A web search didn’t reveal much info. How can I determine the impact of the Sept 30 change on my smart home devices?
Some handlers will indeed stop working once the groovy cloud is discontinued. The current plan is to automatically switch Zigbee and zwave devices to an existing edge driver based on that device’s “fingerprint.“ that could be a stock edge driver or it could be a custom edge driver that you got from a community developer.
If it’s a stock edge driver, you might lose some advanced features, it’s just going to depend on the exact model.
But the idea is that the device itself should continue to work without you having to do anything. It just may not have all the same functionality. And there are a few devices which are not going to be supported on the new platform.
Samsung just put out a new FAQ on this transition today, and there’s a lot of discussion in the smartthings community about it.
Here’s a good place to start.
https://community.smartthings.com/t/groovy-deprecation-september-30-2022/246063/27
(And I should add that of course the plan and reality don’t always line up perfectly.)