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What’s New in Samsung SmartThings: Proactive Cards, Faster Local Control and Matter 1.6
Announced October 6, Samsung’s SmartThings update adds context aware SmartThings Now cards, local hub control and Matter 1.6 support. SmartThings Now can surface Family Care check ins, approaching home controls, Favorites suggestions and appliance energy alerts, while the redesigned Home tab brings key controls clos...
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Key takeaways
- Announced October 6, Samsung’s SmartThings update adds context aware SmartThings Now cards, local hub control and Matter 1.6 support.
- SmartThings Now can surface Family Care check ins, approaching home controls, Favorites suggestions and appliance energy alerts, while the redesigned Home tab brings key controls closer to hand.
- Samsung says supported phone to hub commands can be about 30% faster over shared Wi Fi; that is the company’s claim, and feature availability depends on device support and rollout.
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openai.comCreate a landscape editorial hero image for this Studio Global article: What did Samsung announce in its October 6, 2026 SmartThings update, and how does it advance the platform’s shift from manually finding and. Article summary: Samsung’s October 6 update put **SmartThings Now** at the top of a redesigned Home tab, alongside faster local control and Matter 1.6 support. For a platform Samsung says has 470 million registered users and more than 43. Topic tags: general, general web. Style: premium digital editorial illustration, source-backed research mood, clean composition, high detail, modern web publication hero. Use reference image context only for broad subject, composition, and topical grounding; do not copy the exact image. Avoid: logos, brand marks, copyrighted characters, real person likenesses, fake screenshots, UI text, readable text, watermarks, charts with fake numbers, click
Samsung’s October 6, 2026 SmartThings update makes the platform more proactive: SmartThings Now puts context-aware cards at the top of a redesigned Home tab, while expanded local control and Matter 1.6 support improve how users manage connected devices. Samsung says SmartThings has 470 million registered users and supports more than 430 Works with SmartThings-certified brands; those are company-reported figures, not a count of active users. 1
SmartThings Now puts timely suggestions up front
Building on Home Insight, SmartThings Now uses contextual cards to bring relevant information and controls into view instead of leaving users to look for them in menus. The cards can prompt a Family Care check-in after unusual inactivity, offer lighting and air-purifier controls as someone approaches home, and suggest creating a routine for those actions. They can also recommend changes to Favorites based on recent activity and flag unusual appliance energy use. 1
These examples point toward assistance that anticipates what a user might want to do, but they should not be mistaken for a promise that SmartThings automatically performs every suggested action. The feature surfaces prompts and controls; users can decide what to do with them. 1
A redesigned Home tab across more screens
The refreshed Home tab combines compact service cards with a Live Wallpaper that changes over the course of the day and a Floating Bar designed to make frequently used controls easier to reach one-handed. The card-based, contextual presentation has similarities to Samsung’s Now Brief concept, though SmartThings applies it to home information and connected-device controls. 1
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Samsung says the updated experience spans iOS and Android, Samsung TVs, Family Hub refrigerators, and appliances with 7- or 9-inch screens. 1
Local control is designed to keep commands responsive
When a supported phone and SmartThings hub are connected to the same Wi-Fi network, commands can travel directly to the hub rather than going through the cloud. Samsung says this can deliver responses roughly 30% faster and help supported devices remain controllable during internet disruptions. The speed improvement is Samsung’s estimate, not an independently verified test result. 1
SmartThings can switch between local and cloud control paths, according to Samsung. The update also adds Offline Device Diagnostics, which can apply network-detail updates to multiple devices at once rather than requiring users to update each one individually. 1
Matter 1.6 expands the device categories SmartThings supports
The update adds Matter 1.6 support, with Samsung citing improvements to stability and group control. The newly supported categories include energy meters, closures, irrigation systems and soil sensors. The practical benefit depends on compatible devices and their implementation; support for a standard does not mean every feature will appear on every product. 1
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Samsung described SmartThings as the first platform to adopt Matter 1.6 and said hub-firmware beta testing began in July, with wider hub availability expected in late October. That schedule is a rollout expectation, not confirmation that every hub had received the update on October 6. 1
The bigger shift: from finding controls to surfacing them
Taken together, the update changes the emphasis of SmartThings: context-aware cards are meant to help users notice a useful check-in or control without first searching for it, while local commands and expanded Matter support address responsiveness and device compatibility. The scale Samsung reports—470 million registered users and more than 430 certified brands—gives the redesign a broad potential audience, but how much it changes everyday use will depend on supported devices, rollout and whether the suggested actions prove useful in practice. 1
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What is the short answer to "What’s New in Samsung SmartThings: Proactive Cards, Faster Local Control and Matter 1.6"?
Announced October 6, Samsung’s SmartThings update adds context aware SmartThings Now cards, local hub control and Matter 1.6 support.
What are the key points to validate first?
Announced October 6, Samsung’s SmartThings update adds context aware SmartThings Now cards, local hub control and Matter 1.6 support. SmartThings Now can surface Family Care check ins, approaching home controls, Favorites suggestions and appliance energy alerts, while the redesigned Home tab brings key controls closer to hand.
What should I do next in practice?
Samsung says supported phone to hub commands can be about 30% faster over shared Wi Fi; that is the company’s claim, and feature availability depends on device support and rollout.
Sources
news.samsung.comSamsung Introduces ‘SmartThings Now’ in New Platform Update That Brings More Intuitive User Experiences - Samsung Global Newsroom
androidauthority.comSamsung's updated SmartThings takes a few notes from One UI's Now Brief
androidheadlines.comSamsung SmartThings Now Wants To Run Your Smart Home Before You Ask
thetechoutlook.comSamsung introduces SmartThings Now in a new platform update; Available across SmartThings-supported devices - The Tech Outlook