Samsung has rolled out an update for its SmartThings app, adding new features aimed at improving the user experience for managing connected home devices. The update introduces suggestion cards at the top of the home screen, which offer personalized actions based on user behavior and context. These cards extend the app's Home Insight function, providing timely recommendations such as checking in on a family member if their devices show no activity or turning on lights and air purifiers as a user approaches their home. The update also accelerates local control, allowing the app to communicate directly with a SmartThings hub over a local Wi-Fi network instead of relying on the cloud. This change is expected to improve response times by about 30% and maintain functionality during internet outages. The SmartThings platform now supports more than 430 certified brands and includes a feature called SmartThings Now, which uses cards to suggest actions before users actively search for them. Personalization is based on usage patterns, with the app analyzing the past week to suggest adjustments in Favorites, such as removing the air conditioner card when its use decreases as the weather cools. A new Routine Insight card allows users to review weekly routine activity and delete those that are no longer useful. The Home tab has been reorganized into dashboards, device cards, and service cards, which are more compact and easier to navigate. The app now includes an animated wallpaper that changes throughout the day and a floating bar that places frequently used functions within easy reach, enabling one-handed use on large screens. This updated interface is available on Samsung televisions, Family Hub refrigerators, and devices with 7 or 9-inch screens, as well as under Windows. Samsung has also enhanced the use of local control, allowing the phone to communicate directly with the SmartThings hub when both are on the same Wi-Fi network, bypassing the cloud. This feature is available on Android and iOS with SmartThings hubs Station, V2, V3, and V4, as well as on Samsung televisions and Family Hub devices that act as hubs. The app now supports Matter 1.6, the latest version of the common standard for connected home devices. Samsung claims this update brings better stability and improved performance for group control, with four new categories added: energy counters for real-time consumption tracking, openers (specific types of doors and gates), irrigation systems, and soil sensors. However, Samsung does not provide a country-specific calendar or a list of Matter 1.6 compatible devices, nor does it specify function by function what is available in France. According to SamMobile, the update is already available on Android and iOS, and users are advised to update the app, keeping in mind that local control requires a compatible hub and a phone on the same network.