The typical smart home today often feels like a complicated puzzle, with various incompatible apps and hubs needed to control different devices. Matter aims to solve this by introducing a universal “language” for smart gadgets, allowing them to work together seamlessly regardless of their manufacturer or the voice assistant used.
Who’s Behind Matter: The Alliance Shaping Your Connected Home
Matter originated as Project CHIP (Connected Home over IP) and was launched by the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) in 2019, later rebranding to Matter in 2022. The CSA oversees the certification process for Matter devices.
The development of Matter has been a collaborative effort involving major technology companies. Its founding members include industry giants such as Google, Apple, Amazon, Comcast, Signify, Samsung, and IKEA, alongside over 400 other companies. Matter operates under an open-source Apache 2.0 license, promoting widespread adoption and development.
How Matter’s Architecture Makes Your Home Smarter and Safer
Matter is an IP-based protocol, meaning it runs on existing internet infrastructure within your home. It operates over Wi-Fi, Thread, and Ethernet, using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) solely for the initial device commissioning process.
Security is a core tenet of Matter’s design, employing a “zero-trust” model. This architecture also emphasizes local control of devices, which enhances responsiveness and privacy.
One of Matter’s most significant advantages is its promise of interoperability and consistent setup. The goal is to provide a single, straightforward setup flow for any Matter-certified device, similar to the simplicity of pairing headphones. Furthermore, Matter is designed to be agnostic to voice assistants, meaning devices will work with popular platforms like Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant.
What You Can Control with Matter Today (and Tomorrow)
Since its initial release, Matter has steadily expanded the range of supported device types:
- Version 1.0: The first iteration supported essential smart home devices such as lights, locks, plugs, sensors, HVAC controls, and blinds.
- Version 1.2+: Subsequent updates added support for air purifiers, refrigerators, robot vacuums, washers/dryers, and smoke/carbon monoxide alarms.
The future roadmap for Matter includes support for even more device categories, such as cameras, various other appliances, and advanced energy management systems.
Why Thread Is the Perfect Companion to Matter
Thread is an IPv6 mesh networking technology that complements Matter by providing low-power, reliable connectivity, particularly beneficial for battery-powered sensors. This mesh network allows devices to communicate with each other directly, extending the range and reliability of your smart home network.
To bridge the Thread network with your existing Wi-Fi and other IP-based networks, Matter utilizes “border routers.” Devices like the HomePod mini, Nest Hub Max, and Nest Wifi can serve as these border routers, facilitating seamless communication between Thread devices and the rest of your smart home ecosystem.
Matter in Canada: What Homeowners Need to Know
The adoption of Matter in the Canadian market is being driven by several factors, including federal and provincial incentives for energy efficiency and a growing demand for home automation. Canadian consumers can already find Matter certification logos appearing on products at major retailers such as Best Buy Canada and Amazon.ca. When considering Matter devices, Canadian homeowners should also be mindful of local considerations, such as bilingual packaging and compliance with Canadian Standards Association (CSA) and Underwriters Laboratories (UL) safety standards.
Getting Ready for Thread: Your Next Matter Blog
In summary, Matter addresses the long-standing fragmentation in the smart home market by providing a unified, secure, and simplified setup experience for devices across different brands and platforms. It promises to make building a reliable, secure, and future-proof smart home more accessible for Canadian and North American homeowners.
For those interested in delving deeper into the underlying technologies that make Matter so powerful, stay tuned for our upcoming post, “Deep Dive into Thread.” Subscribe to our blog to be notified when it’s released!
