One of the most notable changes in Android 11 was the addition of smart home device controls to the power menu, but Google did not require that all Android 11 phones display the new controls. Samsung maintained the old power menu design with its version of Android 11, known as One UI 3.0, but smart home controls have already appeared on the Galaxy S21 and Galaxy Tab S7 / S7 +.
Samsung launched the Galaxy S21 series with One UI 3.1, a slightly different version of the software currently present on all the company’s other Android 11 devices. The Tab S7 series received the same version a few days ago. You can now press the ‘Devices’ button on the quick settings page to quickly access connected devices (Bluetooth accessories, SmartThings, etc.), but with One UI 3.1, Samsung added a drop-down menu for you to select alternative device controls .
Device controls on Galaxy S21
Device controls on Galaxy Tab S7
If you have the Google Home app installed, you can select it as an option and control the devices connected to your Google account. It’s not as simple as the power button menu on normal Android 11, as there are a few extra steps to access the control panel, but it uses the same APIs as the standard power menu. This means that if you have other apps that add their own smart home controls, like Tasker, they can also appear in the menu.
It is not clear now whether Samsung will update One UI 3.0 devices with updated controls, either with an operating system update or a service update via Galaxy Apps or the Play Store.
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