As soon as Apple announced HomeKit, you could count on Samsung to come up with something similar. That’s true: Samsung Smart Things platform was announced in August, two months after HomeKit was revealed. Things is a smart solution for connected homes, which originated from a company that Samsung acquired. The good thing is that it also supports HomeKit so if you are in a mixed household with iPhones and Android devices can control things much easier.
SmartThings CEO Alex Hawkinson did not reveal in detail how the platform works with HomeKit, but he confirmed that the two work well together. SmartThings used to be an independent company and had a lot of customers on iOS. Which they will continue to support, even if they release new accessories, such as version 2 of the SmartThings hub.
It is interesting to hear what scenarios SmartThings wants to target. If your child fails to return from school, someone must take action and that includes when you leave open the garage door, or if the dog is in the yard, while a storm is coming. It is interesting that Samsung CEO Boo-Keun Yoon announced last week at the CES that all Samsung products are built on platforms that are open and work with third-party hardware. The planned support for HomeKit fits nicely with this plan.
Samsung acquired SmartThings in October 2014 for a reported amount of $200 million. They want a stronger position in the market for Internet of Things, where everything is interconnected. Samsung wants that by 2017 as much as 90 percent of their household appliances and consumer electronics are connected to the Internet. This also applies to washing machines and refrigerators. SmartThings mainly makes software and mobile apps. There are over one thousand devices that already support it and there are 8,000 apps created by third-party developers that support SmartThings. You can also simply download the app, the company is now officially part of Samsung. On the website of SmartThings, it is not immediately obvious that there is a link with Samsung.