If you’re using Samsung’s SmartThings as your smart home platform, they have announced a new thing called SmartThings Edge that can make your home automations “more reliable, faster, and more secure”. This is a backend change that will allow the core functionality of smart home products to be processed on the local network rather than on cloud processing. The changes may not be visible to users but behind the scenes, things should be faster and more stable with this new hub architecture.
Samsung said that the advanced technology that will be used by SmartThings Edge will speed up the automations that customers are using for their connected smart devices. This is because the processing happens on the local network and not through cloud-based processing anymore. The information goes directly to the hub and allows for local device support on a home network. This makes things work faster as it decreases the latency and increases reliability.
SmartThings will be able to connect to LAN-based integrations, Zigbee, and Z-Wave. It will also be able to connect with more protocols in the future including Matter, the proposed universal home automation connectivity standard that is backed by bigwigs like Amazon, Apple, and Google. SmartThings Edge os compatible with versions 2 and 3 of the SmartThings Hub as well as newer hubs sold by Aotec.
This move is part of Samsung’s “evolution” in modernizing the system and moving away from the legacy Groovy platform. Developers can now use Lua to code and build Device Drivers so it will be easier to integrate with the SmartThings platform. Users will not be able to see any changes within their SmartThings app but they should be able to notice that things seem to be faster with their smart home integrations.
The Matter smart home standard was supposed to have launched this year has been delayed to 2022. This standard will encompass various connectivity types like ethernet, WiFi, Thread, and Bluetooth Low Energy and is backed by the likes of Amazon, Apple, Google, IKEA, SmartThings, Lutron, Somfy, NXP, and ASSA ABLOY.
