At one point smart homes seemed like a leap into a Jetsons-style future. Since then, there have been stumbling blocks, but seamless integration may finally be within reach.
Matter promises to enable different devices and ecosystems to play nicely. Device manufacturers will comply to the Matter standard to ensure their devices are compatible with smart home and voice services such as Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, Google’s Assistant, and others. For folks building a smart home, Matter should enable you to buy any device and use the voice assistant or platform you prefer to control it.
The first protocol will run on Wi-Fi and Thread network layers and use Bluetooth Low Energy for device setup. While it will support various platforms, you will have to choose the voice assistants and apps you want to use. There is no central Matter app or assistant.The Connectivity Standards Alliance maintains the Matter standard. What sets it apart is the breadth of its membership, the willingness to adopt and merge disparate technologies, and that it is an open source project.
Growing out of the Zigbee Alliance gives Matter a firm foundation. Bringing the main smart home platforms to the same table is an achievement. While it is optimistic to imagine a seamless adoption of Matter across the board, it has enjoyed a rush of enthusiasm with a wave of smart home brands signing up, including August, Schlage, and Yale in smart locks; Belkin, Cync, GE Lighting, Sengled, Signify , and Nanoleaf in smart lighting; and others like Arlo, Comcast, Eve, and LG.
If the specification does arrive this fall, more companies can apply for Matter certification, and we could see the second wave of smart locks, smart bulbs, and security sensors in time for the holidays. Assuming the release goes well, we expect several other smart home brands to climb aboard.The road to smart home nirvana is paved with different standards, like Zigbee, Z-Wave, Samsung SmartThings, Wi-Fi HaLow, and Insteon, to name a few.
Matter is not a single technology and should evolve and improve over time. It won’t cover every possible use case for every device and scenario, so other standards will continue to develop. The more platforms and standards merge with Matter, the greater its potential to succeed, but the challenge of making it all work seamlessly also grows.Some devices will work with Matter after a firmware update. Others won’t ever be compatible. There’s no simple answer here.
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