Google and Samsung are bringing their smart home platforms together for the first time. Samsung’s SmartThings will support Google Nest devices starting in January 2021, building a bridge between one of the industry’s leading ecosystems for managing smart devices like cameras and thermostats with one of the leading companies developing those products.
Prior to this, owners of devices that qualified for the “Works With SmartThings” (WWST) certification had to use separate software to manage any Google Nest products they owned. Following the launch of the integration next month, all Nest products will be controllable from the SmartThings platform and will qualify as WWST devices.
The partnership further bolsters Samsung’s smart home platform, which is one of the leading hub makers for managing smart home devices on the same network. Samsung purchased SmartThings in 2014 for $200 million due to the company’s proficiency at helping smart home products communicate across various protocol standards.
Since then, SmartThings has grown to support thousands of products as Samsung has pushed to integrate the platform with virtually every smart home brand on the market, with Google remaining a notable exception until today. Samsung says its platform now has more than 120 certified brands and more than 63 million active users.
Samsung says its new Google partnership means Nest devices can be incorporated into SmartThings Scenes for setting up automated controls for multiple devices at the same time, and the integration will also mean Samsung TVs and its Family Hub fridge will support streaming from Nest cameras and other devices.
