IKEA Goes All-In on Matter for Apple HomeKit Compatibility

[Analog Kid]

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.

I use an iPad Mini as a central control panel. It’s also the only device I install the third party home apps on.

I used to use an iPod touch as the remote, but they’re too far obsolete now.

 

[ignatius345]

I use an iPad Mini as a central control panel. It’s also the only device I install the third party home apps on.

Yeah, I've thought about it. I'm hoping something a little slicker comes along -- maybe that Apple home device we keep hearing rumors about.

I used to use an iPod touch as the remote, but they’re too far obsolete now.

Same. I had an iPod Touch for controlling music playback at one point, but it became unusable eventually. Too bad, because they were very cool little baby iPads, essentially.

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.

Yes! This would be great. I could see putting some Thread-connected buttons up in appropriate places.

 

[tennisproha]

This is a great for Matter over Thread adoption and a win for everyone! Kudos Ikea, thank you.

 

[d-klumpp]

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

Disagree — I've been very impressed with the installation and function of IKEA lighting! Put it this way: my wife suggested we get IKEA stuff for our lake cabin.

I've been using (often struggling with) HomeKit since its inception, with dozens of accessories in our house from numerous manufacturers. Eve has been the most difficult and least reliable, and IKEA has been easiest and most reliable.

I've never been a fan of hubs, so I grudgingly adopted IKEA only because of a couple specific lighting needs. But I've found their lamps and bulbs to perform reliably, and my wife noticed the difference immediately. Indeed, whereas I've previously spearheaded all our smart home initiatives, she's now excited about placing IKEA lighting everywhere -- even trekking to IKEA to buy them herself!!!!!

 

[Radin.Y]

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!!! 😂

I kid you not, many many times when it asks me “who’s speaking?” and I answer with my name, it responds with “hello!” 🤦‍♂️ 😤

 

[Dr Nobody Important]

This is why matter matters. The user chooses without being locked into a specific product like Nest.

 

[svish]

Great to hear that a hub is no longer required. Think they will be able to sell more now.

 

[Oberhorst]

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.

OK proprietary was the wrong word but it's still more or less their own soup, not smoothly integrable into HomeKit and I don't like tinkering, especially when there are so many other brands that offer solutions that are just as good or better.
Mostly using Aqara at the moment but will look at IKEA's new Matter stuff next year.

 

[flopticalcube]

OK proprietary was the wrong word but it's still more or less their own soup, not smoothly integrable into HomeKit and I don't like tinkering, especially when there are so many other brands that offer solutions that are just as good or better.
Mostly using Aqara at the moment but will look at IKEA's new Matter stuff next year.

Yes, they currently do require some tinkering to get them to work with other systems. Hopefully this switch to Matter will take care of that. Once connected, however, my experience is that they work well. Mine are on a SmartThings hub.