Having your smart home devices play well together is key to a seamless experience. That’s the idea behind Matter, a new protocol developed by a broad coalition of companies with some serious smart-home clout.
Backed by Apple, Amazon and Google, it’s a way for device manufacturers to make their products work with each other. And, as a bonus, Matter’s open-source nature allows anyone to develop software that works with it, extending the smart-home reach beyond those who are part of the alliance.
Matter works over Wi-Fi, ethernet and Thread, which uses a mesh network to share power and data between devices. Unlike other wireless protocols, which use the internet to communicate, Matter is designed for local networks and doesn’t go to the cloud unless it’s for remote control.
At launch, Matter will support a small number of device categories: smart light bulbs and fixtures, smart plugs, switches and smart outlets; connected thermostats, smart shades, connected locks and media devices (including TVs). The CSA says it will add new device types in the future.
Some devices will be Matter compatible simply through an over-the-air update; others will require a hardware change to become so. For example, Yale’s smart lock and Eve’s smart plugs both have swappable modules that can be replaced with a new one that supports Matter. In addition, the CSA has partnered with chipmaker Nordic to make its nRF52 SoCs Matter-ready and aims to offer them in devices starting this summer. Signify — which owns Philips Hue — will bridge its existing Zigbee and Z-Wave products to Matter via their existing hubs, while Samsung’s Family Hub appliances and SmartThings Hub will also be compatible. matter residences