Samsung Redesigns SmartThings App, Adds Matter 1.6 Support

Samsung has detailed the biggest refresh of its SmartThings app in years. The updated app, now rolling out to Android and iPhone users, brings a redesigned interface, an AI-powered suggestion feed called SmartThings Now, faster local device control, a new offline diagnostics page, and support for the Matter 1.6 standard — with Samsung claiming SmartThings is the first smart home platform to adopt it.

What’s New in the SmartThings App

Samsung released the new version of the SmartThings app for Android and iOS a few days ago, and has now officially detailed every change. The headline features fall into four areas: proactive suggestions, a visual redesign, better local control, and new device support through Matter 1.6.

SmartThings Now: AI-Powered Suggestions

The most visible change is SmartThings Now, a new section pinned to the top of the app. It uses large cards to surface actions you might want to take right now — for example, a prompt to turn on the air purifier and the lights when you get home, or a check-in reminder about an elderly family member.

SmartThings Now also delivers smart home insights. It can alert you if an appliance is consuming more power than usual, and it can suggest brand-new automations based on your weekly usage patterns. Rather than digging through menus to build routines, the app increasingly proposes them for you.

A Redesigned Interface

The whole app has been visually rebuilt. Samsung says the redesign includes a fresh color scheme and streamlined dashboards. Device cards are now resizable, so you can switch between compact and detailed layouts depending on how much information you want at a glance.

Interaction has been simplified too: tapping a card’s icon triggers the device’s primary action, while tapping anywhere else on the card opens up more details about the device or automation. The update also adds dynamic Live Wallpapers that shift colors throughout the day, and a new compact floating bar at the bottom of the screen for quick access to the Home, Devices, Life, Routines, and Menu tabs. According to Samsung, the new look lines up with the design language of One UI 9.0.

Faster Local Control and Offline Diagnostics

Under the hood, Samsung says local control has been significantly improved. When your phone and your SmartThings Hub are on the same Wi-Fi network, smart home commands can bypass the cloud entirely — making actions up to 30% faster and keeping your devices controllable even during an internet outage. The app automatically switches between cloud and local processing depending on whether you are at home or away.

Samsung also added a dedicated Offline Device Diagnostics page. It lets you bring dropped devices back online by updating your Wi-Fi credentials across every registered product at once. Anyone who has replaced a router or changed their network password knows how painful it is to reconnect dozens of devices one by one — this page is designed to remove exactly that headache.

First Smart Home Platform With Matter 1.6 Support

The update also introduces support for Matter 1.6, and Samsung says SmartThings is the first smart home platform to adopt the new protocol version. Beyond improved stability and better group controls, Matter 1.6 unlocks several new device categories on the platform:

• Energy meters for real-time power tracking
• Closures, covering curtains, gates, and windows
• Irrigation equipment such as sprinklers and soil sensors

This is a meaningful step. Real-time energy monitoring has been one of the most requested capabilities in smart homes, and formal Matter support for curtains, gates, and irrigation gear means those devices can now work across platforms — including Apple Home, Google Home, and Alexa ecosystems — without proprietary workarounds.

Background: SmartThings Keeps Growing

The update lands at a moment when SmartThings is larger than ever. Samsung says the platform now has more than 470 million registered users and supports over 430 Works with SmartThings (WWST)-certified brands. The redesign arrives as the company continues to invest in the platform, including a revamped Developer Center hub and enterprise-focused features announced earlier this year.

It also follows a broader industry shift toward local, responsive control. Home Assistant, Matter’s local-first architecture, and now SmartThings’ up-to-30%-faster local execution all point the same way: the cloud is becoming a fallback, not the default path, for turning on a light or locking a door.

What This Means for Your Smart Home

If you already use SmartThings, the update is one to install. The Offline Device Diagnostics page alone fixes one of the most common smart home chores, and the Matter 1.6 support future-proofs the app for the next wave of energy monitors, curtains, gates, and irrigation controllers.

If you are choosing a platform, the update strengthens SmartThings’ pitch as the most open mainstream option: it is the first to support Matter 1.6, it works with hundreds of brands, and its devices can increasingly be controlled locally even when the internet goes down. With Apple expected to push deeper into the smart home later this month and Google doubling down on Gemini-powered devices, Samsung is making sure its platform is not standing still.

The new SmartThings app is available now for all Android and iPhone users.