Apple, Amazon and Google Smart Home Alliance Announces New 'Matter' Connectivity Standard

[827538]

It's been clear that the big boys developing smart home kit that is not interoperable has been a massive hold up for the adoption and proliferation of smart home devices.

I know I've been hesitant with planning my new build trying to find the right stuff that will just 'work'. I'm hoping Thread and Matter will finally be the answer to this, buy a thermostat or light switch and it just works with whatever ecosystem you are using.

I generally dislike smart home tech for the sake of it but there's a lot of areas where it's genuinely useful. Smoke alarms, burglar alarms, thermostats, doorbells, light switches can all be really useful when it just works but it can be a nightmare finding all the correct parts and getting them to just work.

 

[827538]

Remains to be seen. Sounds like a winning idea to me.

Alternative is to let them continue as is and continue to live on tech islands with our smart devices depending on platform.

Exactly, this sort of cohesion really had to happen to allow the industry to move forward.

Also Eve has a bunch of Thread compatible devices, I'm sure we will see Thread + Matter devices this year. Apple already has two Thread enabled products and I imagine Matter support will be included in a firmware upgrade to Homekit.

 

[k2director]

Will my Nest Thermostat ever matter? Probably not.

I have Nest Secure and some cameras. Nest deserves to die a slow painful death for how it abandoned users like me... I wouldn't trust anything coming out of Nest now.

 

[Kabeyun]

Obligatory XKCD bit...

View attachment 1773252

I literally just downloaded that cartoon to post here. Well done.

 

[MacRumorUser78]

Finally. Someone had to say it.

I have only purchased a few smart home devices waiting for this to happen.

Stuff going in the trash? It was a given that stuff will get updated or outdated—early adopters should expect that. But like most computer things they will continue to work for a while—they may just require using original software. Of course everything won't be supported forever, but some of these companies and apps were going to disappear anyway, Matter or not.

 

[steve62388]

“there will be a lot written”… isn’t that the definition of GREAT branding, though?

Yes, I take your point about ’all publicity…’ etc. But it would be regardless because it’s an interesting product. It’s just such an awkward name don’t you think? It gives the ring of being decided by a committee or a team from The Apprentice. It‘s definitely meme ready.

 

[Eorlas]

hopefully this means various smart devices that at times experience connectivity issues will now experience them less...if at all.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

It gives the ring of being decided by a committee or a team from The Apprentice. It‘s definitely meme ready.

Considering how much of the world is totally head over heels with memes, it seems tailor made for today’s YouTuber.

Just a few videos I could think of (with requisite YouTuber “I AM AGHAST” or “THIS IS INCREDIBLE” mugging)
“Home Matters: How I made my smart home matter”
“My week with Matter, does it matter?”
“Mastering Matter Manipulation”
“Madder about Matter: Where they went wrong!”
“Maj. Matt Matter, your guide to the world of Matter”
“Radioactive Matter: Why I’m not touching it with a 10 foot lead pipe!”

and so on…

 

[Phil77354]

Wonder if the older products can have firmware updates to support the new standard?

This is my question. I'm about to close on a house and was planning on buying a bunch of smart home items, but will now hold off until we learn more. Not really thrilled with the thermostats and smoke detectors that are HomeKit compatible.

This was my first thought too, I have quite a few HomeKit compatible products and have felt very constrained in my choices due to the lack of a wider common standard. But if this new standard is not one that my current products can work with, then it will be a huge disappointment.

It's such a shame Nest was bought by Google, it's such a great thermostat besides the now notorious Wifi chip mess up, I really dislike Google, bought a Nest around the time Google acquired them, didn't know sadly, mine had the infamous wifi chip break down, got a 100% refund after just under 2 years (EU warranty).
Back then there were API so you could use the in other Apps, sadly, google killed that, I wish I could have send them, but then again, I got a 100% refund.

I agree. I had two Nest thermostats in my previous home and loved them. When I started to upgrade our current home to add smart devices, I went with Ecobee and have been happy with it but miss the simplicity of the Nest. I really feel that it would have developed much differently if they had not gone for the big bucks and sold to Google, a shame.

 

[Tsubame]

If this works out, great. HomeKit based around my Homepod (RIP) has been the crux of my setup at home. I haven't used it extensively because Tokyo apartments don't exactly need huge smart home networks for...a single room. Still, sometimes finding devices that support HomeKit has been trickier than the other standards.

 

[0924487]

And almost everything made in China, Japan and Korea will have a competing standard.

 

[ojfl]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought Thread was supposed to do this?

Also my impression. And sponsored by the same companies.

 

[MacBH928]

but is it open source so we can trust it? does it allow installation of open source firmware?

I believe in standards enforced by the gov. like 220V electricity, plug shapes, and octane levels in gas. Sometimes corporates release something and they are big enough to make it the standard for example USB Type A and DVDs.

 

[theNatest]

I’ve been in a deep dive for a DIY security system and just the other day the only note worthy option for integration/simplicity seemed to be the Abode Iota system.

The crazy part of this DIY security industry is this seems to be the only option up to par for HomeKit but now even this may be moonlit? Can I please just consume a product that enables my devotion to the ecosystem?

What do you guys do? Any suggestions?

 

[ErikGrim]

Where the hell is LIFX on this list?

EDIT: There's a longer list on the website that includes LIFX.

 

[markoxford]

Source for this? Last I heard they only promised support for the bridge, which defeats the purpose because you wouldn't be able to mesh the hue stuff with other thread products, only the bridge. I want to be able to use my hue stuff without a bridge at all, since thread eliminates that necessity with it being build into HomePod mini.

Complete Philips Hue range to be compatible with Matter | Signify Company Website

Signify announces all existing and new Philips Hue smart lights and accessories will be compatible with Matter via a software update to the Hue Bridge.

www.signify.com

 

[Dwalls90]

Ecobee. Love their products. Have their own cameras, security system.
All have worked flawlessly for 3 months since purchasing.

Thanks for this response. Did you purchase the Ecobee 3 Lite? I've seen mixed reviews on some websites. I also seem to be reading that this device is more meant for an apartment or smaller home but my home is a step above that so am not sure if this is a great fit. Let me know if there are other Ecobee thermostats that are compatible with Homekit, as the 3 Lite is all that I'm seeing when I browse.

 

[Dwalls90]

On smoke detectors I completely agree. Thermostats though? Ecobee is great.

You're the second commenter to mention this, so I'll check them out. Which thermostat did you go for? My understanding is the 3 Lite is the only one?

 

[vipergts2207]

You're the second commenter to mention this, so I'll check them out. Which thermostat did you go for? My understanding is the 3 Lite is the only one?

I got the standard 3 several years ago. I believe they now have the full featured smart thermostat and the 3 lite.

 

[uptownnyc]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought Thread was supposed to do this?

Do you know what's better than having one standard? Having TWO STANDARDS!

 

[Dwalls90]

I got the standard 3 several years ago. I believe they now have the full featured smart thermostat and the 3 lite.

Thanks I'll look into those. I'm also seeing solutions like Starling that would allow Nest products to integrate with Homekit. I dislike Google but if I can use Homekit that's a win for me.

 

[Onexy]

What about IKEA?

 

[ayale99]

Amazon, Apple and Google band together to announce that your current smart home devices are now obsolete. 🤣

 

[wallaby]

I've already started throwing out my current smart home devices in preparation for purchasing fresh new ones that Matter!

 

[name99]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought Thread was supposed to do this?

I think you should view Thread as the equivalent of TCP/IP. It provides connectivity, but doesn't tell you what to say.
Matter then is the equivalent of HTTP; it provides a low-level language for various common features (like announcing what functionality you provide).

Or for a different analogy, it's like AVRCP in Bluetooth, providing again a common vocabulary for lowest common denominator features so that (at least at the lowest level) everyone can talk to everyone else. Presumably these basic features are things like "light on, off, set brightness, set color, set temperature".

At some point (ideally) maybe we get to HTML+JS in this analogy (which would be some sort of not completely useless cross-platform automatic scheme that would allow me to write my automation routines on my mac, have them stored on dropbox, and have them execute, when triggered, on a Google device).
But let's not get carried away -- for now I think we'll all be grateful if Thread is universal by the end of this year, and Matter is universal by the end of 2022.