SmartThings Update: Can't Open Devices? 84 Reviews (2026)

At the start of October 2026, Samsung pushed SmartThings 1.8.51.30 to Android phones, and the app that people use to run their TVs, air conditioners, washing machines and lights changed shape overnight. Within a week, complaints about the update made up a quarter of the app's negative reviews on Google Play.

We read every negative review from the update's first week to find out what moved, which devices lost their controls, and what reviewers did to get them back.

Quick Answer: Why Can't I Open My Devices in SmartThings?

Between 1 and 9 October 2026, 84 Google Play reviews of SmartThings blame the new 1.8.51.30 update, 71 of them with one star. The two biggest complaints: tapping a device no longer opens its full controls (21 reviews, mostly air conditioners, thermostats, sound bars and washers that are now stuck at on and off), and the TV remote stopped working or lost buttons (18 reviews). One reviewer found the way in: press and hold the device card, then tap Expand. Other changes reviewers name are truncated device names, a missing offline-devices tile, SmartTags that are harder to find, and AI suggestions at the top of the Home screen that cannot be turned off. Samsung replied to 25 of the 84, mostly asking people to reinstall or start a chat with support.

How We Counted

We pulled the 6,000 most recent US English-language Google Play reviews of SmartThings, covering 8 July to 9 October 2026 (our sample ends at 06:08 UTC on 9 October). The app holds 4.57 stars from 5,522,041 ratings on Google Play and 4.57 from 843,106 on the App Store.

Version 1.8.51.30 first appears in our sample on 30 September. From then until 9 October, SmartThings got 271 negative reviews (1 to 3 stars), and we read all of them. 84 tie a specific complaint to the new version, either by saying "update", "new version" or "redesign", or by describing something that used to work and no longer does. 78 of the 84 are on 1.8.51.30; the other 6 do not report a version. We left out reviews about long-running problems like SmartTag location accuracy or login loops that do not mention a change.

The jump shows up in two ways. In September, SmartThings averaged about 20 negative reviews a day; from 3 to 8 October it averaged 34. And the share of negative reviews that mention an update, a redesign or a new layout went from 4.2% (8 July to 29 September) to 24.4% (30 September to 9 October).

What Changed: Tap Used to Open, Now It Doesn't

The most common complaint, in 21 reviews, is that tapping a device card no longer opens the device's full page. What used to be one tap to change the fan speed or the temperature is now either several screens away or not reachable at all:

wow the new update is awful, I'm going back to hand held remote. I just want to change the wind direction on my ac and now I have to tap through multiple screens and accidentally turn it off 3 times before I can get to the ac control menu.

YOU RUINED IT!!! whatever you did with the last update now i can't adjust anything, can only turn on and off. there's was NOTHING wrong with the old version then you had to go "fix" it and screw everything up. JUNK!!

The 21 cover a wide spread of Samsung appliances: air conditioners (fan direction, timers, the display light), thermostats, ceiling fans, a dishwasher, a washing machine, a sound bar and HVAC settings. Several say the card now only toggles power:

Whatever this latest update is I lost control of advance features on my sound bar. All it will do is turn it on and off. Overly complex for no gain except them harvesting data on your houses habits.

One reviewer found where the controls went. In the new layout, a single tap no longer expands a card; you press and hold it and choose Expand from the menu:

Once again, update is terrible. I now have to press and hold on a card then tap expand from the menu before I can dim my lights! A single trap on a card should expand it, or better yet just slide across a card to dim a light.

If your devices seem stuck at on and off, that long-press is the first thing to try. Not every reviewer could get in that way. Seven of the 21 say the device does not open at all, and one says the same devices still open on the iPhone app:

Latest update is garage! Can't open some devices anymore. The same devices can be opened on IOS app, but IOS update has other issues. So SmartThings apps are really bad after this latest update.

The TV Remote Problem

The second group, 18 reviews, is about TVs and sound bars. Many people use SmartThings mainly as a backup remote for a Samsung TV, and the update hit that use hard. Some say the remote no longer connects; others say it connects but lost buttons:

The new update is terrible. previously, I used it to control my TV. now, the controls are only a subset, and the buttons are tiny.

The update is awful. WHY WOULD YOU REPLACE THE POWER BUTTON ICON WITH A TV ICON?! Its somehow even slower and less functional than before.

Three of the 18 say the app now tries to download a controller or plugin for the TV or sound bar and fails, which leaves the device unusable:

I have a Samsung phone that I am trying to connect to (5) Samsung TV's. A week ago this was working great. Now the app won't download the controllers for any of the Samsung TV's I own, thus making the app USELESS! Should be a no brainer for all these devices made by the same mfg to connect together. Horrible.

For one visually impaired reviewer the smaller buttons were the whole problem:

it was okay but now they have changed it into something I am I am visually impaired why would you create such a mess I could see it before an operate all the buttons now everything is so small add hard to find why this is a mess please fix this like yesterday this is a mess I can't use or can hardly use my TV remote

Smaller Changes That Add Up

The rest of the complaints are about the new layout itself. These are the ones that come up more than once:

The truncated names matter more than they sound for anyone with a row of similar devices:

This new compact view for devices truncates the title of the devices, and they give you no way of viewing the devices how they used to be. Now I'm forced to rename devices from say, Sprinkler Zone 1. It cuts off the number so now all devices just show Sprinkler Zone, and you have to now click on each device to see the entire title or change the title. Horrible, you took away functionality.

The missing offline tile was a monitoring tool for people with many devices:

The new app (October 2026) has stopped showing offline device count pinned to top which used to take you to offline devices card. It was an excellent monitoring option. Sadly, it has been taken off.

And the AI suggestions annoyed people who just want switches. This review puts it best:

Just about every UI change has reduced the usability of the app significantly. Revamped highly useful functionality once provided by the Dashboard just doesn't work reliably or indeed at all, and other well used functionality seems to have been lost in the changes. We now get a double dose of unnecessary suggestions (effectively ads for app functionality), some in the new UI style and some that missed the memo, and none respect the setting that has no obvious purpose other than to shut them up.

Another reviewer asks for something simpler:

I'm struggling to understand the point of this app. With the recent redesign and apparently Bixby being built into the app, I can no longer get to the functions of the devices I have in this app. I don't need you to manage my life, what I need is to be able to manage my devices and control them from the app. I need owner's manuals, troubleshooting guides, and the commands so that I can control the devices.

What Samsung Says

Samsung replied to 25 of the 84 update complaints, and to 75 of all 271 negative reviews in the window. Most replies are personalised versions of the same message: Samsung hears the feedback, sometimes links a support article, and asks the reviewer to "Start a Chat" with support. A few suggest uninstalling and reinstalling the app or clearing its cache. None of the replies we read mention a fix for the device controls or the TV remote.

There is one hopeful sign. One reviewer came back on 5 October with a 3-star update to say the remote works again:

it is better from the last review I left. it has been fix a little cant say it is better then what it was before but the remote works again. Will update if changes

What You Can Do

These steps come from what reviewers describe. None is guaranteed to work for every device.

Press and hold the device card, then tap Expand. This is the way back to full controls that one reviewer found. Try it before you reinstall anything.

Look for SmartTags under the Life menu. One reviewer says the tag map moved there in the update.

Remove and re-add a device that disappeared. One reviewer's Jet Bot robot vacuum vanished after the update and came back after they set it up in the app again:

I don't know what Samsung wanted to achieve in this update but my Jet Bot doesn't show up at all anymore. If the app has been improved, then I can't see that. It now seems completely useless to me whereas it was fine before. some time later... So I needed to reinstall my JetBot for this app to recognise it.

If a TV or sound bar keeps asking to download a controller, expect reinstalling to be a short-term fix at best. Four reviewers describe a controller or extension download that fails after the update, and one sound bar owner says the app only connects after an uninstall and reinstall, every time.

Rolling back is not simple. One reviewer says they are rolling back to the previous version. Google Play has no button to install an older version of an app, so that means installing it from outside the store, which we do not recommend for an app that controls your home.

Tell Samsung through the app, not only the Play Store. Samsung's replies keep pointing people to "Start a Chat" at its support site, and that is where a bug report with your device model is most likely to reach the team.

For how SmartThings compares to the other smart home apps, see Apple Home vs Google Home vs Alexa vs SmartThings vs Home Assistant.

Read the Full Breakdown

You can read the full negative review breakdown for SmartThings on Android and SmartThings on iOS, or go to the trust check and apps like SmartThings.