“There’s Labs, which is community verified. “There are multiple levels of certification,” Hawkinson said when I asked him about the selection process. And, even with the new mobile app, there are still experimental Labs features for early adopting users to try out-only now they reside alongside a spate of company-approved, third-party software. It’s a methodology the company still uses. “When they signed up, they got a sandbox environment-just my apps, my environment.” This allowed the devs to play with the APIs and device handlers that allow their software and hardware work with SmartThings’ technology, without subjecting customers to buggy or ill-conceived projects. “We launched our developer tools in May 2013,” Hawkinson said. But while anyone could develop on SmartThings, only a select group could actually publish their work. It likes to tout the platform’s openness, crediting this trait with drawing in more than 5,000 developers over the past year. Developing Interestīy streamlining the layout and focusing on features, Hawksinson wanted to make the SmartThings app easier for people to use while also showcasing the innovations of its developer community. Transactions only happen when people shop for products-which, not incidentally, they can now do directly within the SmartThings app. They find features by searching specific functions or browsing categories like device type, gadget name or lifestyles.Īnother distinction: Developers don’t charge for software. And once there, people don’t download apps packaged up under pretty, squared-off icons. Users gain access by tapping a “plus” sign in the SmartThings app and entering a multipurpose new SmartSetup area. There’s no dedicated application storefront. This “app store” isn’t really a store, and the items don’t look like the apps we’re used to seeing in our smartphones. The company wants to ensure an ever-expanding array of uses for the SmartThings system, so it’s giving developers and product makers a new pathway to reach end users-although there is some potential for confusion. Or set your Kwikset deadbolt to lock automatically whenever you leave. You could tell your Ecobee smart thermostat to warm up your apartment automatically at 7am in the morning. If you have a Jawbone UP24, for example, it can tell your home when you’ve woken up, triggering your coffee maker, speakers and lights to turn on. Now, many of those experiments and creative features are officially going live to the public. Hawkinson says his company’s app store is the “next evolution” of its SmartThings Labs-a testing program that allows software developers to play with its APIs and other development tools. Apple-the originator of the app store model-may be about to announce its own foray into the connected home, reportedly by making it easier for people to control their smart gadgets via iPhones and iPads. So the battle of the smart-home app stores could be in the offing. See also: Smart Home Shocker: My Cats Are Out To Get Me Among the new features it unveiled is what Alex Hawkinson, the company’s CEO and founder, calls “the first app store” for the smart home. SmartThings, which recently overhauled the mobile app that serves as a control center for the smart home, made sure to put developers front and center. Its weapon of choice in the battle to connect our houses? Developers. If the smart-home market is like the Wild West, then we may be heading for a showdown, with a range of competitors all polishing up their spurs. One noteworthy contender is SmartThings, a company that waged a popular Kickstarter campaign two years ago and has since emerged as an outspoken evangelist for today’s smart home movement. ReadWriteHome is an ongoing series exploring the implications of living in connected homes.
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