Samsung adopts Android 11 smart home controls



[ad_1]

One of the coolest new features in Android 11 is the ability to use the power menu to host a set of shortcuts to your smart devices. There was no sign, however, that Samsung adopted this feature in its version of the update, but it turns out they did after all. Samsung has smart home controls on Android 11; they just moved the location.

In Android 11 on Pixels and some other devices (OnePlus, Oppo, etc.), accessing the power menu shows a lot more than just locking and turning off buttons. There’s a brand new user interface that shows your active cards in Google Pay as well as smart home controls. This is one of the best features for users of this version, but unfortunately Google has made it optional for its partners. In early versions of Samsung’s take on Android 11, we were disappointed to see smart home controls nowhere to be found.

Fortunately, Samsung at adopted smart home controls on Android 11, the company just decided to swap the location. Instead of being in the power menu (which is harder to access on One UI anyway because Samsung still thinks Bixby is a good thing), Samsung has put the Android 11 smart home controls under the “devices” button that appears in the notification shade and quick settings.

Press this button to display SmartThings by default, but a menu allows you to switch it to Google Home. From there, an overflow menu lets you manage the apps that may appear in that menu and customize the layout as you see fit.

The other slight change that Samsung has made is that these buttons are no longer one-click actions to turn devices on and off. Instead, they shoot the “slices” where you’ll have to tap again to switch the power. A little tedious if you ask me, but still better than looking for the app.

There is one very unfortunate thing about this, however. This change only applies to a user interface 3.1 which, for now, is limited only to the Galaxy S21 series and the Galaxy Tab S7 as well. Other Samsung devices on Android 11, such as the Galaxy Z Fold 2, were only introduced in One UI 3.0, leaving smart home controls and the ‘devices’ button limited only to SmartThings, as it does. For years. Too bad, but at least there is hope for future updates.

Thank you Max!

Learn more about Samsung:

FTC: We use automatic income generating affiliate links. More.


Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news:



[ad_2]

Source link