SmartThings Comes to Your Car's Infotainment Screen

Samsung has expanded its SmartThings integration in a way that genuinely shifts where your smart home hub lives. Drivers can now control smart home devices directly from their car's infotainment system through a new feature called Car-to-Home. It builds on an earlier capability called Home-to-Car, which let users monitor their vehicles from inside the house. Car-to-Home flips that dynamic entirely — your car becomes the control point for your home.

What Car-to-Home Actually Does

The feature covers a wider range of devices than you might expect. Compatible smart home products include:

  • Air conditioners and air purifiers
  • Robot vacuums
  • Lighting systems and smart switches
  • Cameras

Getting connected is straightforward. Drivers scan a QR code displayed on their car's infotainment screen and link the vehicle to their existing SmartThings account. No complicated setup, no separate app required at that moment — just scan and go.

Location-Aware Automation That Changes Your Daily Routine

Beyond simple manual control — flipping switches from the dashboard — Car-to-Home unlocks location-aware automation that makes your home genuinely responsive to your movements. You can set routines so that SmartThings automatically turns on the right appliances the moment you pull into the garage. Think pre-cooled rooms or air purifiers already running by the time you walk through the front door after a long day.

The reverse works just as well. As you get in the car and leave the driveway, the system can automatically shut everything down. There's also a dedicated Away Mode specifically designed to manage your lights while you're out of the house.

Which Cars and Drivers Get Access First

Right now, Car-to-Home is available on select Hyundai and Kia vehicles — specifically those equipped with the connected car Navigation Cockpit (ccNC) system introduced after November 2022 in Korea. Eligible models include:

  • Grandeur
  • Santa Fe
  • Ioniq 5
  • K5
  • Sorento
  • EV9

Samsung also has plans to bring the feature to Genesis vehicles fitted with the ccIC27 infotainment system. And while the initial rollout is Korea-focused, both Samsung and Hyundai have stated their intention to expand Car-to-Home to customers around the world in due course.