---
title: "Samsung Frames in local art mode, no SmartThings key"
description: "I moved both Frame TVs to a local integration that tells art mode from live TV, no SmartThings key at all."
url: "https://michael.zazon.us/notes/two-samsung-frames-local-art-mode-no-smartthings-key"
published: "2026-08-19T12:00:00-04:00"
kind: "build-log"
subject: "home-automation"
tags: ["media"]
---
I'm trying to retire my SmartThings hub and figure out which automations I have for my Frame TVs will die as a result. I have two: a 2024 43-inch in the living room and a 2021 55-inch in the playroom. The stock [Samsung TV integration](https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/samsungtv/) in Home Assistant reports `on` regardless of whether the TV is displaying art or live TV. This means I can't write an automation to "turn the art off at night" because there's no way to differentiate between the two states.

The community integration [ha-samsungtv-smart](https://github.com/TheFab21/ha-samsungtv-smart) is a fork of [ollo69's original project](https://github.com/ollo69/ha-samsungtv-smart) and adds an art-mode switch and art-state sensor. I chose this one after reading the source code. The setup asks for a SmartThings key, but if you leave it empty, it connects locally to the TV. This is important because Samsung is moving the SmartThings API to paid tiers.

Initially, pairing attempts timed out after exactly 30 seconds because nobody was at the TV to press Allow. I fixed this by pairing each Frame while standing in front of it. Once both were paired, toggling art mode flipped the art sensor from off to on while keeping the TV entity set to `on`. This shows exactly what the stock integration couldn't.


The second puzzle was the art library showing zero pieces despite the TV having its own collection. The art channel uses a separate connection from the TV control connection and remains silent during live TV playback. But after the TV went idle, the library count flipped from 0 to 15, and when I selected a Monet in Home Assistant, the picture on the wall changed.

[Diagram: A Frame TV's control and art channels and how the stock vs community integration reads each state](https://michael.zazon.us/notes/two-samsung-frames-local-art-mode-no-smartthings-key)

Some folks have had luck with Samsung Tizen debloat, and this is a big thing now with reverse engineering and customizing with AI agents.

_Edited on 2026-10-25 to add the Tizen debloat idea._