Unlock seamless connectivity: SmartThings offers support for third-party bridges

In the ever-evolving world of smart home technology, compatibility and connectivity are paramount. The ability to seamlessly integrate different devices and platforms is what makes the smart home experience truly smart. At SmartThings, we’re constantly working to expand our ecosystem and ensure that users have the flexibility to choose, connect and control a wide range of devices. Today, we’re thrilled to take that commitment a big step further by announcing support for third-party Matter bridges.

What are matter bridges?

Matter bridges are a critical piece of the puzzle in creating a unified and interoperable smart home ecosystem. They serve as connectors, allowing device manufacturers with non-Matter devices (such as Zigbee, Z-Wave and proprietary connectivity) to seamlessly integrate with Matter ecosystems. These bridges represent non-matter devices on the Matter network, and vice versa, acting as translators to facilitate communication between devices on either side of the bridge. Many popular brands have announced that their hubs — including the millions already in homes today — will act as Matter bridges, allowing SmartThings users to connect hundreds of new devices.

Seamless integration experience

One of the key benefits of SmartThings’ support for third-party Matter bridges is the effortless installation process. When users order Matter Bridges for SmartThings, we take care of the hard download by automatically turning on all bridged devices, ensuring a hassle-free setup.

We also continuously sync with the bridge, so if a user adds or removes a bridged device in your app, SmartThings reacts immediately, updating to reflect those changes. This real-time synchronization ensures that users always have an accurate view of their smart home.

Extending your reach works with SmartThings

We know that developers are eager to reach a wider audience. That’s why we’re excited to announce that bridge support is coming to Works With SmartThings. This extension creates new opportunities for developers to promote bridges and bridge-connected devices to millions of Samsung users.

With Works With SmartThings, manufacturers can promote their products to a wide and diverse community of users who want to start and develop their smart homes. It’s a powerful platform to showcase devices and drive adoption among users who value compatibility and interoperability with their Samsung devices and SmartThings-enabled homes.

SmartThings’ support for third-party Matter bridges gives users more choices in the devices they enable their smart home with, and gives developers more choices in how they integrate those devices. We are proud to continue to lead interoperability and openness in the smart home industry and invite developers to join us on our journey.

Interested in learning more? Contact us at partners@smartthings.com.

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