SmartThings EdgeBridge - AEB

That old Android phone in your drawer? It's about to become the AI brain of your smart home.

Want to build a smart home but find NAS setups or Docker too intimidating? Android EdgeBridge turns any spare Android device into a powerful local proxy server for your smart home — no dedicated server hardware required. Starting from 1.0, an in-app AI chat lets you control your devices with plain language, right inside the app.

■ Why EdgeBridge?

The fastest, easiest way to bridge your SmartThings (ST) hub with the devices on your local network. An old phone, a tablet, even an Android TV box — install the app and any of them becomes a 24/7 smart-home gateway. With MCP (Model Context Protocol) and AI chat built directly into the app, you can run your home with a single sentence like "turn off the living room lights" — no extra server required.

■ Key Features

Built-in MCP: The MCP (Model Context Protocol) server — the standard that connects AI to SmartThings — is built right into the app. No separate server to install or maintain.

AI Chat tab: Pick Claude, OpenAI, or Gemini and control your devices in plain language. Only models you've configured a key for are shown.

One-tap SmartThings sign-in: A single login connects all your SmartThings devices to the AI.

Configuration sync: Hand off your full setup from phone to TV, or from your old phone to a new one, in one move.

Lightweight server: A Ktor-based HTTP server relays commands between your smart devices.

Automatic device discovery (mDNS): Your SmartThings hub finds EdgeBridge on the network automatically — no manual IP entry.

24/7 reliability: Foreground service plus power management (WakeLock) keep the server running even when the screen is off.

Auto-start on boot: The server restarts itself automatically after a reboot or app update — set it and forget it.

Android TV ready: Fully supports battery-less set-top boxes and wired Ethernet environments.

Call origin tracking: Every AI call is tagged with where it came from (chat / hub / caller IP) for easy debugging.

■ How to Use

Install the app on a spare Android device.

Open the app and tap Start Server. (On first launch, allow notifications and battery optimization exemption.)

Register the device through the dedicated Edge Driver in the SmartThings app.

Optional: in the Chat tab, sign in to SmartThings and enter an API key for your preferred AI model — natural-language control is ready to go.

Your smart home automation now runs fast and securely on your local network — and now, with AI alongside.

■ A note from the developer

Android EdgeBridge is built around one goal: a smart home anyone can set up. If you ever gave up on the dream because of networking headaches, start it again — with the phone forgotten in your drawer, and a single line of conversation.