A smart home’s devices communicate with one another using an interoperability protocol called Matter, which allows them to talk to each other even if they are from different ecosystems. In the future, you could set up automations between, say, a Zigbee lamp and a Z-Wave door lock with just one app or voice command. But the reality is that many of your smart devices may not be compatible with Matter yet.
Fortunately, most companies that make existing devices have announced plans to upgrade them to Matter over the coming months. For example, Signify (which owns Philips Hue) said that its current Hue Bridge device will become Matter certified. Likewise, Nanoleaf, which makes Zigbee- and Wi-Fi-based smart bulbs and light strips, will add Matter support through over-the-air firmware updates to its Shapes, Elements and Lines products. And chip maker Nordic, which develops the nRF52 and nRF53 systems-on-chips that power most Zigbee- and Thread-based devices, said its new hardware will support Matter as well.
The four big platforms that control most of the world’s smart speakers, hubs and voice assistants — Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Apple HomeKit and Samsung SmartThings — will all support Matter, and they can also serve as your Matter controllers. Other companies have also pledged to update their apps to be Matter controllers, including the TP-Link Tapo app and those from Philips Hue, Aqara and eWelink (Coolkit). matter residences