Samsung SmartThings Adds AI-Powered Elder Care Features

Care Insight, another upgraded feature, analyzes week-over-week changes in activity levels and device usage patterns, flagging significant deviations that might indicate health changes. It's basic pattern recognition, but applied to a dataset most families have no systematic way of tracking.

The other major update brings Now Brief—Samsung's AI briefing service that debuted on Galaxy phones—to TVs and Family Hub refrigerators. Launching alongside the Galaxy S26 series, the expanded Now Brief aggregates Home Security, Family Care, Pet Care, Energy usage, and sleep data into ambient displays that activate automatically when you approach a TV or open the fridge door.

Samsung's phased rollout targets TVs from 2024 onward and Family Hub fridges from 2021 and later, creating a unified information layer across the home. Walk into your kitchen in the morning and the fridge screen might show that your mom's first activity was logged at 7:15 AM, your dog was walked for 23 minutes, and your front door was last opened at 6:42 AM when your partner left for work.

The strategy mirrors how Apple has stitched iOS, watchOS, and HomeKit into a persistent context engine, but Samsung's betting on appliance ubiquity where Apple has wearable dominance. According to industry analysts, the global smart home market is projected to hit $174 billion by 2025, with elder care applications representing one of the fastest-growing segments as Boomer demographics age in place.

What Samsung isn't addressing yet is the privacy calculus of always-on home monitoring. Care on Call requires Galaxy smartphones running One UI 8.5 or later, and all these features demand SmartThings device registration and service activation. The company notes that remote control capabilities require explicit caregiver permissions, but the architecture still centralizes vast amounts of behavioral data.

Competitors are watching closely. Amazon's Halo division was shut down last year, but Alexa Together continues as a subscription elder care service. Google has been quieter, focusing Nest on security rather than healthcare, but the company's recent ambient computing demos suggest it's building similar capabilities. Meta exited consumer hardware with Portal's discontinuation, ceding this territory entirely.

For Samsung, the SmartThings update represents a pivot from selling devices to selling peace of mind—a far stickier value proposition. Families already juggling caregiving logistics don't need another gadget; they need systems that reduce cognitive load. If the platform can deliver on that promise, Samsung's ecosystem lock-in gets considerably stronger.

The updates begin rolling out with the Galaxy S26 launch, with TV and Family Hub support arriving in phases throughout 2026 depending on region and model. Samsung hasn't disclosed pricing for premium Family Care features or whether they'll remain bundled with standard SmartThings accounts.

Samsung's SmartThings update reveals where the smart home market is actually headed—not toward more connected lightbulbs, but toward platforms that solve real emotional labor. By turning existing hardware into a caregiving mesh network, Samsung's creating stickiness that transcends brand loyalty. The question isn't whether families will adopt these tools—the aging demographics guarantee demand—but whether Samsung can navigate the privacy minefield before regulators or competitors force its hand. For now, the company's got a head start in a race that Amazon and Google are only beginning to run.