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Matter Smart Home Standard Officially Launches, Support Could Come in iOS 16.1

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The Connectivity Standards Alliance and its members that include Apple, Google, Amazon, Samsung, and other smart home manufacturers, today announced the official launch of the Matter 1.0 smart home accessory standard.

matter-launch.jpeg

Companies that have agreed to support Matter now have all of the resources that they need to begin implementing Matter into their platforms, so we could see Apple integrating Matter into HomeKit very soon. In fact, iOS 16.1 is already laying the groundwork for Matter, so Matter could be announced with the launch of the update.
"What started as a mission to unravel the complexities of connectivity has resulted in Matter, a single, global IP-based protocol that will fundamentally change the IoT," said Tobin Richardson, President and CEO of the Connectivity Standards Alliance. "This release is the first step on a journey our community and the industry are taking to make the IoT more simple, secure, and valuable no matter who you are or where you live. With global support from companies large and small, today's Matter 1.0 release is more than a milestone for our organization and our members; it is a celebration of what is possible."
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With the Matter 1.0 launch, authorized test labs are now available for product certification, tools are available, and the open-source reference design SDK is complete. Alliance members with devices that have already been deployed and with plans to update their products with Matter support can do so as soon as their products are certified.

Matter is an internet of things standard that is designed to improve interoperability of smart devices between brands, so HomeKit devices can work with other smart home devices from Google, Amazon, and others. Matter works over Wi-Fi and Thread, with Wi-Fi allowing smart home devices to communicate with the cloud and Thread offering an energy efficient and reliable mesh network in the home.

The Connectivity Standards Alliance says that the first release of Matter will support a variety of smart home products such as lighting, HVAC controls, window coverings, safety and security sensors, door locks, media devices, controllers, and bridges.

Article Link: Matter Smart Home Standard Officially Launches, Support Could Come in iOS 16.1
 
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https://www.macrumors.com/2022/10/04/matter-smart-home-standard-launches/
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I want to be excited. I really do. But I have zero confidence that current hardware made by different manufacturers will be updated with software to allow interoperability, even if the necessary hardware is already there. They are going to hope that we buy new hardware and probably charge even more for it.
 
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heystu said:
So...does this mean I can control my Nest thermostat and cameras with the Home app? Or will it apply only to new devices? If the latter, then Matter don't matter...
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It will largely only come to new devices, though some older devices will get support. See Eve's announcement that their more recent devices, which use the Thread wireless protocol, will get Matter updates https://www.evehome.com/en/matter.

It'll just depend on the manufacturer.
 
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Unfortunately I don’t think Matter will have anything to do with creating Nest-HomeKit comparability.

The only thing I’ve found here that works is this. And it works very well
www.starlinghome.io

Nest HomeKit Integration | Starling Home Hub

Connect Nest to Apple HomeKit and AirPlay. Perfectly integrate Thermostat, Protect, Cameras, Speakers, Secure and Nest x Yale Lock with Home, iOS, Siri and other smart home devices and HomeKit apps.
www.starlinghome.io www.starlinghome.io
 
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Matter will only matter if current IoT manufacturers care on updating their existing eWaste devices. Otherwise, yeah, Matter doesn’t matter.
 
Oh Goody! We get to do more inadvertent beta testing for Homekit...😁

will it be free for 2 yrs then require a subscription? Eh Apple?😉
 
heystu said:
So...does this mean I can control my Nest thermostat and cameras with the Home app? Or will it apply only to new devices? If the latter, then Matter don't matter...
Click to expand...
It always seems to be new stuff only. Had the same issue with HomeKit as I already had many smart devices (Nest, myQ, Wemo etc) and either they didn't work with HomeKit or would require an additional "hub" that just made everything more complicated. Glad I didn't start replacing them yet as already many of the vendors that were supporting HK dropped support.
 
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heystu said:
So...does this mean I can control my Nest thermostat and cameras with the Home app? Or will it apply only to new devices? If the latter, then Matter don't matter...
Click to expand...
This has always been my hope that Matter will mean just this.

As an owner of a Nest Thermostat, Nest Smoke Alarm, Ring Cameras/Doorbell/Alarm... I REALLY want these to be HomeKit compatible.

However, cynically, although im sure theres no technical reason why they cant update existing hardware in some way... I suspect that the rollout of Matter will just be used by some manufacturers to try to convince you to upgrade equipment rather than provide software upgrades for existing kit.

I hope Im wrong.
 
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Not too excited for this - I saw a comment a while ago saying that this will be minimum interoperability. I imagine this to be similar to using an Amazon Echo as a hub for Hue lights - the basic commands will work (turn lights on/off, set colours), but the advanced stuff still needs a Hue bridge.
 
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I am sure only a few manufacturers like Eve will update their products. Though for the future it should open up more products.
Now if we could only get Siri smarter to communicate with the devices on a regular basis that would Matter.
 
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heystu said:
So...does this mean I can control my Nest thermostat and cameras with the Home app? Or will it apply only to new devices? If the latter, then Matter don't matter...
Click to expand...
This has already been achieved with the use of the Starling Smart Hub. I can use Siri to control my Nest devices.
 
orion123 said:
Unfortunately I don’t think Matter will have anything to do with creating Nest-HomeKit comparability.

The only thing I’ve found here that works is this. And it works very well
www.starlinghome.io

Nest HomeKit Integration | Starling Home Hub

Connect Nest to Apple HomeKit and AirPlay. Perfectly integrate Thermostat, Protect, Cameras, Speakers, Secure and Nest x Yale Lock with Home, iOS, Siri and other smart home devices and HomeKit apps.
www.starlinghome.io www.starlinghome.io
Click to expand...
This is what I use. Works flawlessly.
 
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