TL;DR
- Samsung is rolling out a new feature for its smart home platform called “Home to Car.”
- The feature allows you to check on the status of your car, control functions, and set up automated routines.
- The company also made a few other announcements, like the launch of SmartThings Safe, enhanced customer service, and a Home Life update.
Earlier this year, Samsung announced it was entering a partnership with Hyundai Motor Group to bring a new car-related feature to its smart home platform, SmartThings. At the time, it was unknown when the feature would be available. Now it appears Samsung is ready to start rolling it out.
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Home to Car
In a blog post, Samsung announced it is finally launching “Home to Car.” This feature will allow SmartThings users to check on the status of their vehicle through the app. You’ll also have control over functions, like the air conditioning, door locks, engine start, and so on. On top of that, you’ll even be able to set up automated routines. For example, you could set it up so that your engine starts and the air conditioning turns on when you lock the door to your smart home.
It looks like this feature is rolling out to South Korea first, but other countries will follow soon after. Since this is a collaboration between Samsung and Hyundai Motor Group, it will come as no surprise that this feature is designed to work with connected Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis cars. With Hyundai and Kia vehicles, you’ll need an infotainment system released after November 2022 and a subscription to BlueLink or KIA Connect services. Meanwhile, Genesis requires an infotainment platform released after October 2023 and a subscription to the Genesis Connected service.
SmartThings Safe
In addition to Home to Car’s launch, Samsung has also rolled out a feature called SmartThings Safe. This feature is a button in the SmartThings app that can also be added to your home screen. Tapping this button will instantly send your GPS location and a request for help via push notification to anyone you’ve added as Location Members. Those people can then view that information on mobile devices, tablets, TVs, and Family Hub refrigerators.
Other announcements
Home Life is a feature that was introduced earlier this year. It can recommend services based on factors like household characteristics, devices owned, and interests. Samsung has updated this feature to add recommendations for automated routines.
Additionally, Samsung says that SmartThings users will now be able to link their device information to the company’s website. This will allow users to request service or repairs. And SmartThings will now let you “transmit device status information diagnosed by SmartThings and check past repair history.” This update will be available to South Korea and Australia first, starting next month. However, it will expand to other markets in the future.
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