After three years of waiting, I finally upgraded some of my smart home devices to Matter. I was ultimately successful but there were some twists and turns to navigate. To be fair, the Matter rollout is literally happening right now. And some of the apps required to experience Matter are in beta status. So I wouldn’t rush out and try this just yet unless you’ve got some time, patience, and the right devices.
In my case, I used two Eve devices that I’ve previously reviewed. The Eve Energy Smart Plug and Eve Motion Sensor are currently Matter-upgradeable. I also used my iPhone 12 with iOS 16.2, a Google Pixel 7, and a second-generation Google Nest Hub. From a software perspective, I have early access to a beta Eve app, which anyone can sign up for. And I used the Google Home app on my Pixel 7 since it was just upgraded to support Matter.
At this point, both Eve devices appeared in the Eve app, the Apple Home app with my other HomeKit devices, and in Google Home on my Android phone. I can also see, and control them on the Nest Hub, either by touch or by voice. And that’s where a key Matter benefit comes in because until now, Eve devices were exclusive to the Apple HomeKit ecosystem. Today I asked the Google Assistant to turn Eve’s smart plug on and off and it just worked.
But, getting to that point didn’t quite just work, however. In fact, it took me a fair amount of work.
I started with the smart plug that controls my Christmas tree lights and upgraded to Matter in the Eve beta app. I was warned that once the firmware to enable Matter is installed on the plug, I wouldn’t be able to manage it directly in HomeKit. Keep that in mind if you decide to go this route.
The firmware upgrade went without a hitch. Interestingly, the device was assigned a new QR code specific to Matter. The old HomeKit code can’t be used with this device. That’s a bit of a challenge because every HomeKit device has a unique code on it, to begin with. If you ever remove a HomeKit device and need to re-add it, the code is always available on, or inside, the device.
After a Matter upgrade, that HomeKit code is useless. And, as part of the upgrade process, you have to save or print an image of the new Matter code. It might be a bit challenging for some folks to keep all of these new QR codes for future use, but you’ll need to.
Continuing the process, I scanned the new code in the Eve app. Unfortunately, after several minutes of trying, adding the device failed. I tried with the Apple Home app as well, but no luck. It took a few helpful conversations with an Eve Home representative to try and figure out what was wrong.
While waiting for the back-and-forth conversation, I decided to try upgrading my Eve Motion sensor. Again, the firmware upgrade worked fine, I got a new Matter QR code, and then… no luck adding the device in either the Eve or Apple Home apps. I took a different approach and used the Google Home app and… it worked! The latest version of Google Home does support the addition of Matter devices, which Google announced earlier this week.
At that point, the Eve Motion showed on my phone and on my Nest Hub. Thinking that maybe this might “rejigger” the Eve and Apple Home apps, I tried once again with those. Sure enough, this time, the Eve Motion was added to both iOS apps and I had control over the device from two ecosystems.
I still struggled a bit with the Eve Energy Smart Plug. In the end, I reset it by pressing and holding its LED button for 10 seconds. Unfortunately, the Eve and Apple Home apps still couldn’t pair with it. However, scanning the device’s unique QR code in Google Home did the trick. And after that, I was also able to add it to the iOS apps.
I really didn’t expect that Google’s app would work when the iOS apps struggled a bit. However, this shows why Matter is so important: It opens up devices to multiple smart home ecosystems.
If it didn’t I’d have two fewer devices in my house right now because they simply disappeared from HomeKit and Eve after the Matter firmware upgrade. That’s not me being an apologist for some of the challenges I had; it’s simply a fact.
Clearly though, as the Matter device upgrades rollout begins on a widespread basis, there will be some pain points. That’s something I have expected: Getting scores of companies to work together with a common protocol for previously siloed devices isn’t going to happen without a few bumps and bruises. Hopefully, device makers learn from early experiences such as mine and improve the process.
I should note that although I didn’t lose any automations I had previously set up, one did break. I use the Eve smart plug to turn on my Christmas Tree lights at sunset and then turn them off at 11 pm. The automation is still intact but it’s not attached to a device: I’ll have to re-add the plug for automation.
I don’t really mind though: Being able to voice control an Eve plug with a Nest Hub using Google Assistant has me so happy, I can fix the automation myself.
This is great to see and interesting. I bought an Eve Energy planning to upgrade it to use with Google Home, but I am stuck by the current Eve requirement for an Apple thread border router (I have a Nest WiFi Pro). It seems an odd requirement that shouldn’t be needed, especially after Google confirming yesterday that Matter and Thread are now widely rolled out. I asked Eve why an Apple TBR is required but they said it just is.
Interesting. I find that a little odd but not for the reason you mentioned. The Eve Energy smart plug *is* a Thread border router. I don’t want to hose up your plug but I wonder if after the Matter upgrade, it will work as intended for that reason.
Thanks, I didn’t realise the Eve Energy is a TBR. I suspect Eve “requires” an Apple TBR because those are their most-tested use cases. Perhaps once they have done more testing with Google, SmartThings etc TBRs they will loosen that requirement. Much as I don’t want to risk bricking it, I may find it hard to resist the temptation for long!
Eve Energy is not a Thread Border Router. It is just a regular Thread device.
And regarding Eve Energy only working with Apple Border Routers: as soon as the Eve Energy is migrated to Matter it can easily be used for a pure Google setup without any Apple devices involved. The Apple stuff is only needed for the migration process from HomeKit to Matter
Arthur, why is an Apple thread border router needed for the migration, when the iOS device can connect to the Eve Energy over Bluetooth?
I’m in a similar predicament. I just purchased an Eve Motion and was hoping to use it with my Google Nest Hub which has the Thread Border Router and Matter Controller upgrade. I assumed I’d be able to install the Thread firmware upgrade for the Eve Motion from my iPad and didn’t realise there would be a pre-requisite for an Apple Thread Controller (which I don’t have).
I am in the same situation. I have plenty of Google Thread Border Routers, but have no Apple devices that are TBRs. I purchased two Eve devices (Eve Energy and Eve Door and Window) thinking I could just convert them to Matter and add them to my Google Home devices. Is there a solution to this issue without actually purchasing an actual Apple device which I do not need? I already have an iPad so I thought that would be good enough.
Bluetooth isn’t a supported transport once commissioning has completed. Matter requires IPv6 over Thread or Wi-Fi / Ethernet. Bluetooth (BLE specifically) is used by Matter only for commissioning.
Yes, but this does not explain why an *Apple* thread border router is mandated by Eve. The firmware update will take place over Bluetooth and then it should be possible to use it with any manufacturer’s TBR.
I’ve got all the necessary except I just submitted application for Eve beta firmware for my Eve Energy. It is talking thread to my two mini HomePods and EERO Wi-Fi 6e nodes. Also have SmartThings and Google Nest Hub 2nd gen already to go just so I can do what you did. I didn’t see you mention needing to get in beta program to get Matter support for Eve Energy but maybe that happened long before this posting. I also bought the Nanoleaf Essentials Light strip with thread also showing up but after I bought it I see they say it won’t be upgradable to support Matter so I jumped the gun on that apparently.
I’m in the UK and have just concluded a long dialogue with Eve Support trying to establish why I couldn’t upgrade my Eve Motion sensor to support Thread using an iPad and Google Nest Hub (which has the Thread/Matter upgrade). I was told that the Eve Motion I’d purchased (two weeks ago) was a ‘Works with Apple HomeKit’ version and that could only ever be upgraded to Thread if my network included an Apple Thread Border Router. No further explanation was offered.
Eve told me they intend to release a ‘Works with Matter’ version of their sensor in 2023 which will have the Thread firmware pre-installed. This version will operate out-of-the-box with Google Home products. Fortunately, I bought my Eve sensor from Amazon so have now returned it for a refund.
I have pressed Eve support numerous times to explain why an Apple TBR is required, but they flatly refuse to provide an answer. I’m returning the Eve Energy I bought in November to Amazon UK as it is totally useless with a Nest WiFi Pro, Nest Hubs etc.
It is disappointing Eve promised Matter updates from 12th December, without being explicit in advance about the TBR hardware requirements.
Meross and Eve both now have Matter certification for their smart plugs in the products database on the CSA website so I expect both will turn up soon. I doubt I will buy Eve though, their customer service and handling of the upgrades does not match their premium-level pricing.
Eve started out as an Apple-only supplier, so this makes sense. Because the original Eve device today needs to get connected before updating you have to use Apple. This will go away when new devices all come with Matter pre-installed and may also be fixed by the Android app arriving. It is frustrating, but in tech, the early bird usually only gets headaches.
As an experiment, I’ve updated two of my six Eve Energy plugs to Matter in the hopes of allowing the one Android user in my apartment to control the lights, but so far it hasn’t turned out that way at all.
While the update went well, I was unable to add either Matter plug to SmartThings or Google Home in Android. Both immediately recognized the plugs but after inputting the pairing code from Apple Home app, I got the message that a hub is required. Silly me; I thought the whole point was to be able to do this without a hub. I also thought my HomePod Mini(s) were considered hubs.
So what am I missing here?