(Pocket-lint) - SmartThings started life as a Kickstarter launching in 2012, before the brand was bought by Samsung in 2014. At the time it was a big purchase and seen as Samsung's big move into smart home.
Since becoming part of the Samsung family, SmartThings has found itself integrated into Samsung devices, launching a range of hardware devices, while working as a platform to control your smart home too.
This is everything you need to know about SmartThings and how to make it work for you.
A quick introduction
Many people will be familiar with the SmartThings name because of the integration into Samsung devices, particularly its smartphones.
SmartThings, and the associated logo (which looks like six connected circles), appears on Samsung phones when dealing with connected devices; the app is part of the Samsung apps installed on phones and you'll find it featured on things like Samsung's appliances.
The SmartThings app is universal, working on Android and iPhone to control SmartThings hardware and compatible devices, although the functionality between Samsung and non-Samsung devices is slightly different.
SmartThings is both a range of branded smart home products and the platform that controls them. The software platform supports other services, like Philips Hue, while it also integrates features like SmartThings Find, a service limited to Samsung devices.
To use SmartThings, you'll need to login with a Samsung account.
What devices does SmartThings offer?
As a smart home company, the SmartThings hardware revolves around a collection of plugs, hubs and sensors. To use the plugs or sensors you will need a SmartThings Hub to connect these devices up.
There have been several versions of the SmartThings Hub, the V3 (2018) being the latest and this will allow you to control your SmartThings system of hardware.
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However, the SmartThings Hub also supports Zigbee and Z-Wave, so you can use it to control smart home hardware using these protocols, although in many cases, like for Philips Hue bulbs, it's recommended that you use a Hue Hub and link the services on the software side (which we'll get to in a bit) for the best results.
Once setup, SmartThings will let you run a range of sensors, including leak detectors, motion sensors, smart buttons, smart plugs, and smart bulbs, within the SmartThings system.
The offering is different internationally, so you might find there are more products available in some countries than some others.
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Writing by Chris Hall.