If you’ve been using the SmartThings app to make your home a bit “smarter”, you will now be able to test out some of the things that Samsung is experimenting with. The SmartThings Lab makes these experiments available to selected users so they will be able to test it out and give real-time feedback to the engineers who are working on these features. They currently have eight experiments that you can check out but only if you’re in the U.S. and South Korea.
One of the things that you can check out on SmartThings Labs is turning your device into a universal remote control. You will be able to use it as a remote to control devices like air conditioner, bed air purifier, dryer, front door camera, TV, vacuum, and other things that need a remote to switch on and off. There’s also TV Quick Control which lets you add a TV remote widget on your smartphone’s Lock Screen and notification panel.
Another experiment you can try out is to use your smartphone as a Bluetooth keyboard for your TV and accompanying apps. This is pretty useful for those that are finding a hard time typing out what they want to search for on the apps on their smart TVs. You can also create virtual switches on your smartphone for your smart devices, making it easier to switch on and off some of your connected accessories at home.
Gentle wake-up is a feature you can try out that slowly turns on your smart lights so you won’t abruptly have to wake up in the morning and ruin your day. The “turn it off when I leave” experiment will turn off your lights and other devices when it doesn’t detect any movement in your house. It will come in handy when you constantly forget to turn things off upon leaving the house and a reminder to do so just doesn’t cut it anymore.
These experiments are of course not guaranteed to be released to the general public but those that have a successful testing period will eventually be part of the SmartThings app. For now though, only Android users in the U.S. and South Korea will be able to use SmartThings Labs.
