Samsung Electronics said on Wednesday it has strengthened remote family-care functions through a SmartThings update. The update focuses on adding new features to the "Family Care" service and linking it with Galaxy "Now Brief". Family Care uses home appliances and mobile devices connected to SmartThings to provide activity alerts for family members living separately, medication and hospital-visit schedule reminders, and location-based alerts.

The newly added "Care on Call" provides situation information in a pop-up before a call starts when calling a family member receiving care. Users can check the time of the first activity, most recent activity time, step count and weather. It is available on Galaxy smartphones running One UI 8.5 or later. It does not support internet calls.

A remote monitoring function has also been introduced. It continuously monitors air conditioners, air purifiers, dehumidifiers and humidifiers installed at a family member's home to check temperature, humidity and air quality, and immediately alerts the guardian if abnormal patterns are detected in device use. If the guardian has set up remote control, the guardian can directly control the devices. The update also applies the "Care Insight" function, which provides alerts when home temperature or humidity moves outside an appropriate level or when there is a meaningful change in activity or device usage compared with the previous week.

The "Reassurance Patrol" function using the 2026 robot vacuum cleaner "Bespoke AI Steam Ultra" has also been linked with Family Care. If no signs of family activity are detected for a certain period, it sends an alert to the user and activates a Reassurance Patrol run button. The robot vacuum's built-in camera can detect a person lying on the floor, and it supports two-way conversation through a speaker and microphone.

Samsung Electronics also linked key SmartThings information to Galaxy's personalized briefing service "Now Brief". In addition to the Home Insight, energy and sleep environment reports already provided, it added home security, Family Care and pet care information. Users can see device status, energy use, security information based on door locks and door sensors, parents' daily activities and a pet dog's walk information at a glance.

Now Brief will be rolled out sequentially within the year to TVs released from 2024 and to Family Hub refrigerators released from 2021. The Now Brief screen is automatically activated when a user approaches the TV or touches or opens and closes the Family Hub refrigerator screen.

Jae-yeon Jung (정재연), head of Samsung Electronics' SmartThings team at the AI Platform Center and a vice president, said Samsung's AI technology goes beyond everyday convenience to help users care for themselves and their families with peace of mind. He said the company will continue to expand differentiated services through SmartThings.