Samsung is rolling out a new SmartThings update that brings Family Care, home security, and pet monitoring into a more unified experience across Galaxy phones, TVs, and Family Hub refrigerators. The update improves Family Care tools for checking on aging parents who live alone, adds Care on Call phone features, and pulls more home safety and activity alerts into the Galaxy Now Brief panel so users can see what is happening in and around their homes more quickly.
SmartThings Family Care upgrades for relatives living apart
Samsung’s updated SmartThings Family Care feature is built to help you keep an eye on aging parents who live in a different home. The service links their SmartThings-connected appliances and mobile devices so you can get notifications about daily activity, medication and hospital visit reminders, and location-based alerts when they come and go.Family Care also watches devices like air conditioners, air purifiers, dehumidifiers and humidifiers for unusual temperature, humidity or air quality patterns at your parents’ place. If something looks off, you get an alert right away and, if you have remote control permissions set up, you can adjust those devices from your own phone.
Care on Call phone check-ins with activity and weather info
Samsung’s new Care on Call feature in SmartThings lets caregivers get key activity and weather details in a floating pop-up before a phone call even connects. When you call a loved one using Care on Call on a Galaxy smartphone running One UI 8.5 or later, you see information like what time they first moved around that day, their most recent activity time, and the local weather. This screen appears right before the call starts, so you can open the conversation with specific questions instead of just asking, “How are you?”That real-time snapshot helps you quickly tell if a parent slept in late, has been inactive for a while, or might be dealing with bad weather outside. The idea is to turn a simple check-in call into something more meaningful, because you already know whether their day looks normal or a little off before they even say hello.
Safety Patrol robot vacuum monitoring with two-way audio
Samsung’s updated SmartThings Safety Patrol feature lets you send a Bespoke AI Jet Bot Steam Ultra robot vacuum around the house to check on things using its built-in camera. If SmartThings notices no activity from a care recipient for a set amount of time, it sends a notification and lets the caregiver remotely dispatch the robot from their phone.Once the Bespoke AI Jet Bot Steam Ultra is moving, caregivers can see what is happening at home through the robot’s camera in real time. The vacuum also has a built-in speaker and microphone for two-way audio, so you can talk to someone who may be on the floor or in another room and hear their response without being there in person.
Now Brief adds Home Security, Family Care, and Pet Care across Galaxy, TVs, and Family Hub
Samsung’s updated Now Brief pulls Home Security, Family Care and Pet Care into one screen on Galaxy phones, plus newer Samsung TVs and Family Hub refrigerators. With the Galaxy S26 series, Now Brief now adds these three areas on top of existing Home Insight, Energy and Sleep Environment Report, so you can see what is happening with your home, parents and pets at a glance.On TVs launched in 2024 or later and Family Hub refrigerators from 2021 or later, Now Brief will roll out in phases and can pop up automatically when you walk near the TV, touch the fridge screen or open and close the door. From that single view, you can check door locks and door sensors for Home Security, parents’ daily activity updates from Family Care, plus pet-related details like dog-walking information, as long as the devices are registered in SmartThings and the service is turned on in the Life tab.
Samsung’s new SmartThings update pulls Family Care, home security, and pet monitoring into a single Now Brief screen across supported Galaxy phones, TVs, and Family Hub refrigerators. If you already use SmartThings, open the app’s Life tab to turn on Family Care, Pet Care, and Home Security, then link your parents’ devices, cameras, locks, and robot vacuum so alerts show up in one place. When you upgrade phones, TVs, or appliances, check the model year and One UI version so you know whether Care on Call, Safety Patrol, and the latest Now Brief view are supported before you buy.
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