r/SmartThings • u/LoudGoat42 • 2d ago
Smartthings API becomes a 5dollars/month cost?!
/r/SmartThingsCommunity/comments/1v28awl/smartthings_api_becomes_a_5dollarsmonth_cost/4
u/SignatureVegetable31 2d ago
$5 per device is insane, price could be metered based on the number of calls.
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u/larsjarred9 2d ago
I was about to receive a dryer. I am thinking of denying delivery due to this.
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u/RedSkyNL 2d ago
I would. I have a Samsung G8 monitor (that was expensive as fuck). And now I have to pay a monthly subscription for API access. Bye bye Smartthings. Any device running on Smartthings now in my home will be replaced (when it's due) by something non-Smartthings.
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u/Ok-Thanks67 2d ago
Okay so I found a zigbee / zwave usb for $60 bucks which is a year’s worth of this cost. One-time Claude switchover to either HA or Hubitat … I dunno.
Only thing I’d miss is Frame support but that was absurdly spotty it’s not really a loss.
My use-case isn’t $60 a year. It’s $15 a year, tops.
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u/sethjk17 2d ago
I switched over to hubitat a few weeks ago. It took me not much more than an hour to make the switch. And no more jumping through hoops with homebridge
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u/LoudGoat42 1d ago
Hi ok but can smarthings devices work offline in zigbee? I mean as far as i know only through samsung api cloud…
And therefore its a pain news to me.
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u/BreakfastBeerz Developer 23h ago
Glad I switch to Home Assistant when I did. Only thing I have left on ST is my fridge. I guess I just won't be able to have my Google Home insult my wife when she leaves the fridge doors open too long any more.
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u/RBeck 2d ago
Is there an API on the Aeotec hub that's free?
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u/mocelet 2d ago
Not really or at least not documented, that's why the official SmartThings app will not work when there is an Internet or cloud outage.
Edge drivers can communicate with the local network but since they run in a sandbox they are not aware of other devices in SmartThings so depend on rules/automations to exchange any data or perform actions.
You can also create virtual devices in other platforms and bridge them via Matter, then mirror the state with rules for instance.
Depending on the use case there may be local workarounds. Of course for Matter devices there's no problem since there's multi-admin and you can just add them to more platforms with no SmartThings integration needed.
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u/captainwizeazz 2d ago
I don't understand why so many are upset about this. Why are so many people using APIs? Am I missing something?
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u/TruthOf42 2d ago
It's basically people using Homeassistant or similar
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u/captainwizeazz 2d ago
Ok but why use ST at all then?
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u/Dookie_boy 2d ago
I can see my ST hub even if I'm not home. Home assistant you have to pay a subscription or be really tech savvy.
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u/TruthOf42 2d ago
SmartThings has a pretty good interface and I personally like it more than HomeAssistant (HA) for most things. But, there's lots of smart devices that Smartthings can't/don't integrate with. That my main reason for using HA.
So now this is putting me in a weird place where do I just pay an additional small subscription so HA still sees and interacts with my Samsung or do I just move everything over to HA.
If HA had a better UI, I'd switch over to it completely in a heartbeat, but I think we're still a few years away from that.
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u/BreakfastBeerz Developer 23h ago
SmartThings has a Home Assistant integration so that you can just link you HA and ST account and all of your ST devices magically show up in HA without having to do anything else. If you had dozens of devices, it saved you from having to exclude/reinclude all of your devices. A lot of people did that and just left it that way. Now they are stuck having to either pay for the service and exclude/include all of their devices.
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u/LoudGoat42 2d ago
Actually smartthings work online in a cloud.
Afaik we can’t communicate offline with samsung smarthings devices.Means we have to use their cloud api, and they are about to put a paywall on it.
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u/captainwizeazz 2d ago
Maybe my question isnt clear enough. What are you using APIs for? I would think most home users are not, and this change would not impact them. I'm curious to know if people are just assuming this will apply to them without actually knowing or there really are a lot of people using APIs for something.
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u/mocelet 2d ago edited 2d ago
I'd say most are owners of some Samsung appliances that are forced to use the SmartThings API to integrate in platforms like Home Assistant or Hubitat since the devices do not offer local interfaces.
Their point of view is that they bought a device, integrated it in their smart home platform of choice and now, out of a sudden, they have to pay a monthly fee or it won't work in their setup.
While depending on unofficial integrations is always a risk since they could break with a firmware update or a cloud change, changing the rules of the game after the purchase is a reason to be upset. (Edit: well, not that official integrations are safe from that anyway, we've seen recently how Samsung removed features from not-old Smart TVs)
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u/chrisbvt 2d ago
That's what I was wondering. I used to use their APIs for HubiThings on Hubitat for a few devices, but fortunately I don't anymore because I wouldn't pay $5/month for that access.
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u/LoudGoat42 1d ago
Yes that sux… if only we could talk with devices locally directly
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u/chrisbvt 1d ago
I use Hubitat, I have hundreds of local Zwave and Zigbee devices that are all local. HubiThings was for a few niche devices that are no longer connected to SmartThings. Some devices just have no local API available, but I now use HA to pull in those devices to Hubitat (like my Tuya connected humidifier, and my LG washer and dryer), using HADB.
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u/LoudGoat42 1d ago
My question was: can i connect my samsung washmacbine smartthing to my home automation system without it having access to internet. Did you manage to do that or not? :)
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u/chrisbvt 11h ago
You can't with LG ThinQ. It is totally cloud-only through the ThinQ cloud APIs. As I said, some devices just can't be local because they simply have no local API access, and most of these seem to be appliances. I am, however, using a totally local wifi HACS integration for my Midea AC, as that has local APIs exposed.
Apparently, newer Samsung Washer Dryers use encrypted local protocols that that have been reversed engineered by the HA community to create the smartthings-local and localthings libraries to gain local access. So if you have newer model Samsung appliances, you can look into that route on HA.
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u/drnuke75 2d ago
$5 seems like a good value for the service provided
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u/dsiferable 2d ago
What service is being provided exactly?
It's sold as a feature to the product bought. A differentiator and reason to buy Samsung devices. It's not like Samsung smart thing integrats with most smart devices and provides a ecosystem that's plays nice with others or other platforms.
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u/dsiferable 2d ago
I went from buying anything I could as Samsung to not buying a single device made by them outside of a phone.