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IKEA Goes All-In on Matter for Apple HomeKit Compatibility

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IKEA plans to overhaul its smart home lineup with full Matter support, making its budget-friendly products compatible with Apple Home and other ecosystems without requiring the company's own hub, reports The Verge.

ikea-dirigera-hub.jpg

Starting in January 2026, the Swedish furniture giant will release more than 20 new Matter-over-Thread smart lights, sensors, and remotes. The products will work directly with Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings through native Matter compatibility. Pricing will remain comparable to current products, which start under $10.

To recap, Thread is a low-power wireless mesh protocol that runs on the 2.4GHz band and is designed for devices such as sensors, bulbs, plugs, and shades. It's IP-based, so devices can talk directly to each other over the internet, and on other networks via a Thread Border Router (such as a HomePod mini or Apple TV 4K).

Meanwhile, Matter is an open-sourced, IP-based connectivity software layer for smart home devices that was co-developed by Apple, Amazon, Google, and others. It works over Wi-Fi, Ethernet, and Thread.

IKEA also recently rolled out a beta update for its Dirigera smart home hub that activates its built-in Thread radio and adds support for Matter. With this update, Dirigera now works as both a Matter Controller and a Thread Border Router, so it can connect to and control any compatible Matter device – including those from other brands – as well as IKEA's upcoming Matter-based product line, which is set to replace its current Zigbee offerings.

"We want to remove barriers to complexity, we want it to be simple to use, and we just want it to work," David Granath of IKEA of Sweden told The Verge. "If you're an Apple user, take our bulb and onboard it to your Apple Home."

The news should be a welcome development for HomeKit users, who previously faced limited affordable options. IKEA's existing smart home products required workarounds or lengthy waits for HomeKit support. With Matter, any compatible device automatically works with Apple Home without additional certification.

Article Link: IKEA Goes All-In on Matter for Apple HomeKit Compatibility
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/07/09/ikea-smart-home-products-matter-apple/
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Reactions: racerhomie, blob.DK, adrianlondon and 3 others
Fantastic! I’ve been loving that companies like Goovee doing the same thing. The more options, the better.

Now if Apple could get Siri to a place where it’s actually functional as a smarthome assistant, we’re set. I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ll ask it to turn on lights in a certain room and it’s all like “who’s speaking?” THE ONLY PERSON THAT LIVES HERE, IDIOT!!! 😂
 
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Reactions: Haiku_Oezu, Radin.Y, pplfn and 11 others
Now that most of my light bulbs are connected, and my ACs are connected, I'm sort of out of ideas of stuff I could possibly want automated. (One notable exception being my coffee maker, which sadly has a "soft" switch that has to be physically pressed. But not the end of the world.)

Anyway, what I truly need now is a dedicated central dashboard device or screen or something that is simple enough that a guest or my 6 year-old can use it. Some really nice and intuitive visual interface so you can see in one view everything that's going on. Maybe a dedicated iPad? In a perfect world it would be an always-on e-ink kind of thing I could put on a wall or something.

While I do have HomePods, Siri is dumb as ****, and even if it wasn't, you still have to know the names of scenes and devices to make stuff work.
 
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Awesome, my kitchen is built all around IKEA Smart so this is something I look forward to. I’m even planning to have their lights in my wardrobe and other rooms so this is something I’m very interested in. Question remains whether they will announce some kind of successor to their Sonos Speakers, particularly the one that seconds as a table lamp.
 
SECURITY:
It is smart for Ikea to make broadly compatible devices but leave the hub to others. Since only the hub is connected to the Internet that is the point of maximum potential and vulnerability. Ikea leaves the security and responsibility to the maker of the hub. Let's hope that Apple continues with its security updates and perhaps adds more firewall protection to the next generation of Apple TV / Home Pod devices.
 
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AppleTO said:
All I have is a couple of Kasa smart plugs. But they use their own app. No idea if they work with HomeKit or the Home app.
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They make a version that does, I didn't have great luck with them because they kept losing WiFi connection. Reviews say it's about having dual band WiFi on.
 
ignatius345 said:
Now that most of my light bulbs are connected, and my ACs are connected, I'm sort of out of ideas of stuff I could possibly want automated. (One notable exception being my coffee maker, which sadly has a "soft" switch that has to be physically pressed. But not the end of the world.)

Anyway, what I truly need now is a dedicated central dashboard device or screen or something that is simple enough that a guest or my 6 year-old can use it. Some really nice and intuitive visual interface so you can see in one view everything that's going on. Maybe a dedicated iPad? In a perfect world it would be an always-on e-ink kind of thing I could put on a wall or something.

While I do have HomePods, Siri is dumb as ****, and even if it wasn't, you still have to know the names of scenes and devices to make stuff work.
Click to expand...
Apple has easy to use options for home automation control other than Siri name. On the iPhone the control panel, HomeKit app, are very easy to use. The Apple watch has the smaller version of the iPhone HomeKit app. If you want Siri to work, use the Apple Watch to call her. Example, push crown, say bedroom on. Works every time. The same process works for the iPhone, push button give a command. Never use her name again. The iPad works the same. What I use the most for home automation, control panel on my devices. A simple picture of what is currently active and easy to change. All without having to think. Plus, iPhone and watch are with me almost every minute of the day. The iPad is in use another big portion of the day. Wake up in the middle of the night, push crown, give a command or have app open to turn on any or all devices. Think someone in house, push crown and say all lights on. Cannot remember when was the last time I used Siri name. The reality, we all have a control panel with us wherever we go. That apples to alway from home also. I do not deed a fixed location device.
 
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Awesome! I was avoiding IKEA's trådfri because it's not integrable/proprietary but that might change now. Looking forward to seeing what they're going to offer.
 
npmacuser5 said:
Apple has easy to use options for home automation control other than Siri name. On the iPhone the control panel, HomeKit app, are very easy to use.
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Yeah man. The Home app is not great and not particularly intuitive.

npmacuser5 said:
The reality, we all have a control panel with us wherever we go. That apples to alway from home also. I do not deed a fixed location device.
Click to expand...
It seems like you did not read my post at all, or are just here to push some view that I don't need the thing I said I am looking for: a fixed control panel to physically integrate the smart home controls into the space intuitively. I don't want to live in a home where a babysitter or a kid or my grandmother can't turn on the lights without fiddling with personal gadgets (if they even have them) and being integrated into the network to boot.

Thanks but no thanks.
 
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ignatius345 said:
Now that most of my light bulbs are connected, and my ACs are connected, I'm sort of out of ideas of stuff I could possibly want automated. (One notable exception being my coffee maker, which sadly has a "soft" switch that has to be physically pressed. But not the end of the world.)

Anyway, what I truly need now is a dedicated central dashboard device or screen or something that is simple enough that a guest or my 6 year-old can use it. Some really nice and intuitive visual interface so you can see in one view everything that's going on. Maybe a dedicated iPad? In a perfect world it would be an always-on e-ink kind of thing I could put on a wall or something.

While I do have HomePods, Siri is dumb as ****, and even if it wasn't, you still have to know the names of scenes and devices to make stuff work.
Click to expand...
So Siri is supposed to read your mind? Oh the horror you have to know the scenes that you created.
 
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Oberhorst said:
Awesome! I was avoiding IKEA's trådfri because it's not integrable/proprietary but that might change now. Looking forward to seeing what they're going to offer.
Click to expand...

IKEA stuff has always used Zigbee, which is the most open standard available for smart devices. It works with any Zigbee hub, USB stick, and Home Assistant with no issues, and it does not need a hub. It's not proprietary at all.
 
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Maybe IKEA will be the first to produce reasonably-priced, reliable, good neutral styling, multi-year battery life BUTTONS.

I’ve not looked for a few months but Thread buttons have been severely lacking.
 
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