Which SmartThings Mobile App should I use?
⚠ As of 2021, this article is no longer relevant. SmartThings has completely deprecated the SmartThings Classic app in favor of the 'new' Samsung SmartThings app. This article remains for historical purposes, but certain recommendations may no longer apply.
- The SmartThings Classic app provides access to creating Routines and a version of Smart Home Monitor which is compatible with third party applications like SharpTools.
- The Samsung SmartThings app provides access to Scenes and SmartThings Home Monitor. While these are not directly exposed to applications like SharpTools, there are approaches to integrating them:
SmartThings has transitioned from SmartThings Classic to the Samsung SmartThings application. Early in the transition, users were prompted to complete a migration/transition process to help them move to the new app. At this point, the SmartThings Classic app is now fully deprecated.
As part of this migration process, you will lose access to Smart Home Monitor (SHM) and Routines (in favor of STHM and Scenes) which cannot be controlled by SharpTools at this point. Please see the following post for more details and workarounds:
FAQ: SmartThings Mobile App Migration (and impact to SharpTools)
As part of this migration process, you will lose access to Smart Home Monitor (SHM) and Routines (in favor of STHM and Scenes) which cannot be controlled by SharpTools at this point. Please see the following post for more details and workarounds:
FAQ: SmartThings Mobile App Migration (and impact to SharpTools)
[Classic] Routines
Routines are an excellent automation feature that has been available in the SmartThings ecosystem for many years. Routines allow you to control a number of devices and parts of your smart home system with a single tap. For example, you could dim multiple lights, lock the doors, and change the mode all with the tap of a button. The beautiful thing about this is routines can become a tile in a SharpTools dashboard, an action in a SharpTools Rule, or controlled from the SharpTools for Android Tasker plugins and widgets.
Routines are only available in the SmartThings Classic app and are an excellent way to trigger Scenes and other automations from third-party apps like SharpTools.
[New] Scenes
Scenes are a relatively new addition to the SmartThings ecosystem and are similar to Routines in some ways. Scenes enable you to automate multiple lights, but cannot control other devices like locks or smart home features like modes. Scenes have the benefit of being able to set each individual light in the scene to a specific dim level.
While SmartThings doesn't provide direct access to scenes for third party apps at this point, you can trigger a scene from within a Routine.
So the easiest workaround is to create a Routine which activates your desired Scene.
[Classic] Smart Home Monitor
Smart Home Monitor is a powerful tool for monitoring your home's security and notifying you of potential intrusions or unexpected security issues. Smart Home Monitor (SHM) can use motion sensors, contact sensors, and other sensors to monitor for unexpected activity in your home and can notify you via SMS or push notification.
The Samsung SmartThings mobile app and SmartThings Classic app have two completely independent versions of Smart Home Monitor. Settings / actions in one version of the app do not impact settings in the other. Additionally, third party apps like SharpTools only have access to the Smart Home Monitor version in the SmartThings Classic app.
[New] SmartThings Home Monitor
SmartThings Home Monitor (STHM) is the next evolution of Smart Home Monitor. It parallels SHM almost completely with the main difference being that SHM is available in the Classic Mobile app whereas STHM is available in the 'new' Samsung SmartThings mobile app.