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How to get Matter on your devices

October 11, 2022 by Stacey Higginbotham 7 Comments

This article was originally published in my Oct. 7, 2022 newsletter. 

The Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) released version 1 of the Matter smart home interoperability protocol this week, and I and millions (maybe just tens of thousands) of other users are now wondering how we get access to it on our devices. Major smart home companies including Google, Amazon, Apple, Signify (makers of Philips Hue and WiZ bulbs), Samsung, and more have all provided answers, detailing both how they plan to support Matter and specifically which of their devices will support it first.

The CSA, in its release touting the new spec, said that there are over 130 products from 50 different companies that participated in its gated test events and the specification validation event over the summer. I expect those companies to be first to market with Matter updates. In the meantime, friends of mine at major companies have Matter running in their homes. So how can I start testing it out in my own home? The short answer is, I can’t.

When will my Nanoleaf devices get Matter? Image courtesy of S. Higginbotham.

I reached out to almost a dozen smart home vendors to find out when I might see Matter on my own devices only to get back a lot of non-specific reassurances that yes, they will support Matter and yes, they will announce something related to Matter support in the near future. For example, Assa Abloy, maker of Yale locks, said in an email, “We are working diligently to bring Yale’s Matter Smart Module to market as soon as possible. The Matter protocol is ever evolving, and we are constantly adapting based on the standard’s latest protocols and releases.”

A source of mine at Google texted me to let me know that I can sign up for a developer account, and that Matter support in its devices is still not yet generally available. But Google will let me know when it is. Amazon had a similar message provided by a spokesman. “We will start rolling out Matter to well over 100 million Echo and Eero devices across 30 different models later this year, with broad availability next year,” emailed Jeremy Bartram.

He added that Amazon has been working with a limited number of partners testing their Matter devices with Alexa, so far, but would be expanding those testing efforts to more partners. I should expect more detail on those efforts and general availability soon.

Regarding its Matter plans, a representative from Samsung SmartThings promised to be in touch “very soon.”

Comcast didn’t get back to me about its plans to update its 20 million users and their Comcast gear with Matter. Nanoleaf and Eve both reiterated their pledges to support Matter, but didn’t offer a specific time frame for when existing devices would get updates. Though Nanoleaf did say it plans to release new Matter-capable products next month.

Eve’s spokesperson said that it plants to “release a first round of updates around the time Matter is fully launching.”

After almost three years of waiting, plus recent efforts to explain how the Matter standard might disappoint users at launch, I’m eager to see what the user experience will be. But it appears that despite the launch of the certification and the fact that certified devices already exist, I will have to wait even longer before I get to experience it.

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Filed Under: Analysis, Featured Tagged With: Amazon, Assa Abloy, comcast, Eve, google, Matter, Nanoleaf, Signify, SmartThings

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Comments

  1. John Dixon says

    October 11, 2022 at 8:36 am

    Sonoff announced yesterday that its Matter ready M5 switch is testing for Q4 2022 or 2023 release. Ikea already have listing and price on their Matter hub while the Aqara motion sensor, on sale now is Matter ready. Companies are moving, and these are not lead players.

    Reply
    • Stacey Higginbotham says

      October 11, 2022 at 8:47 am

      Just a note, Matter-ready doesn’t mean Matter is there yet or will be right away. My lights are Matter-ready but the software updates aren’t expects for a month at the earliest.

      Reply
      • John Dixon says

        October 11, 2022 at 11:38 am

        OK, but if i buy that Aqara sensor today or tomorrow on Prime Offers, and next week, or the next ( on the shelves in some stores in Germany this week) the IKEA Dirigera, will they talk to each other. If not, what exactly are they lacking?

        Reply
  2. Roman says

    October 11, 2022 at 9:32 am

    I say let them take all the time necessary to get roll out right. Last thing anyone who has finally fine tuned their smart home wants is an update that breaks a routine,scene or functionality on multiple devices.

    Reply
  3. Lawrence K says

    October 11, 2022 at 2:32 pm

    I’m holding out for a hero…or just IKEAs new hub early November with Matter’s grand opening. Almost all my stuff right now is Zigbee, I’m curious which will be the first Matter-Zigbee bridge to control them all will be.

    Reply
  4. Michael G says

    October 17, 2022 at 4:51 pm

    all matter has managed to do so far is disable “home app” access from my down-level clients (older iphone/macbook). My “Home” has been upgraded (via appletv update) but i see none of the apparent benefits yet.

    Purchased a few thread-only devices to give it a run in hopes of getting more out of my apple-tv “hub-less” device access, but no great insights gained, and i still cant get all my “ingestion” devices to have a common view of the “home”

    i have google homebhub/amazon echo/appletv(homekit), hue, wemo, august, Netatmo and Nanoleaf Essential devices.

    waiting with baited breathe.

    Reply
    • Lawrence K says

      October 19, 2022 at 2:09 pm

      apple TV IS a thread hub. hah hah hah. Tune in next week. Matter is coming in 16.1 not here yet otherwise what you have is homekit over thread.

      Reply

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