Make your Samsung TV smarter with routines on your Galaxy phone

Modes and Routines, the app that lets Galaxy phone and tablet users create automations and IFTTT (If This Than That) event chains, has a handful of options that expand into the IoT and smart home realms.

It's very easy to create custom routines on your Galaxy mobile device, and through them, you can automate SmartThings devices such as vacuum cleaners, smart lights, window blinds, and others.

• In essence, the Modes and Routines mobile app on your phone can help you make your smart home devices even smarter.

The app even includes a few automations for Samsung smart TVs, which are the main topic of this article.

If you don't need a crash course into Modes and Routines, here is the full list of “Then” conditional effects available for Samsung smart TVs as of this writing:

• Turn the TV ON.
• Turn the TV OFF.
• Adjust the TV's audio volume.
• Audio mute.
• Play or stop media playback.
• Enter Ambient Mode.
• Change the TV channel.

At present, the list of effects for smart TVs is relatively slim, but Samsung may add more.

Regardless, we used whatever is on offer right now to create three example routines that may inspire you to enhance your smart TV user experience your own way.

We're showcasing these routines in the screenshots below. Take a quick look at them, and feel free to emulate and recreate them on your Galaxy phone or tablet.

Auto-power ON your TV in Ambient Mode when it's time for you to wake up

Auto-mute your Samsung smart TV whenever you receive a phone call

Turn your TV ON in Ambient Mode through a widget on your Galaxy phone/tablet home screen

For a more intuitive experience, you can create a second Modes and Routines widget to power off your TV from Ambient Mode (or otherwise)

You can place both custom-made “Single routine” widgets on your home screen — one for Ambient Mode ON, the other for TV Off — and control your TV's Ambient Mode with just a screen tap.