Summary
I’ve been resistant to the idea of a smart home for a long time, but the Matter badge that I now see on many products has surprisingly brought me the peace of mind to start building one of my own.
What Is Matter?
Matter is across-platform standard for all things smart home. It allows devices to work with a variety of smart home ecosystems, and it’s slowly becoming more popular as more devices arrive. With Matter, you don’t need to hunt around for a light bulb designed specifically for Apple HomeKit or Google Home if you’ve already got a Samsung SmartThings or Amazon Alexa setup.
All the major companies are on board with the Matter standard including Apple, Google, Amazon, Samsung, and the Zigbee Alliance. While the rollout of devices have been slow and some features still require pesky proprietary apps, the Matter standard is constantly evolving andlooks set to finally realize its promises in 2025 and beyond.
I’m No Longer Afraid of Being Locked Into One Ecosystem
The most popular smart home ecosystems are all tied to a specific company. There’s Google Home, Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, and Samsung SmartThings. Buying devices specifically designed for any of these ecosystems meant I would be tying my fate to the whims of a corporation. If that company decided to abandon or drastically change its smart home plans, I would either have to go along for the ride or potentially end up having to replace hundreds—if not thousands—of dollars of technology.
Then there’s the more likely scenario of me simply wanting to move away from having a Google account or deciding I’m tired of Samsung and want to try something else.
With Matter, this is less of a concern. Matter-compatible devices are designed to work across any of these ecosystems, as long as the ecosystems themselves support the Matter standard. I currently use SmartThings, a result of my having a Samsung phone, fridge, and TV that formed the genesis of my smart home ambitions. As long as I expand my smart home with Matter-enabled devices, I know I can switch in the future with minimal pain.
My Purchases Are More Future-Proof
Traditional homes are built to last decades. You can install a traditional light switch knowing that it may just outlive you. You may need to replace a light bulb, but the lamp or light fixtures aren’t going anywhere.
Smart home devices don’t have the same longevity. Standards change and some technologies, like batteries, come with a limited lifespan. Matter doesn’t change this, but it does improve the situation. It removes the risk that a light bulb, camera, or power outlet loses all of its features because the manufacturer has shut down the servers it depended on.
Matter devices are designed to work locally and offline. Features that are baked into the protocol can work as long as you have a working smart home hub. In my case, my hub is my TV. As long asmy Wi-Fi network stays up, and my TV works, I can continue to send commands to my smart home gadgets without a need for ongoing cloud infrastructure.
I Don’t Have to Juggle as Many Apps
When each smart home device is dependent on its own cloud service, that means I have to install a new app for each line of device. There is an app for my vacuum, for example, which is not controllable via Matter.
There can even be multiple apps for the same type of thing. I may have to use a Philips Hue app for some light bulbs and TP-Link’s Tapo app for others. If I buy some fancyGovee icicle lights, those would require a different app from my existingUmbra Conosmart lamps, which use the Nanoleaf app.
Govee Icicle Lights
Govee Icicle Lights with Smart RGB LEDs for indoor and outdoor use.
These apps all continue to exist, but as long as the devices are Matter-certified, I can choose to ignore them. There are certain features that are only available inside the apps, but I know the core functionality can be managed directly from SmartThings.
That means that while I do need to open the Tapo app currently to see how much energy an appliance is using through myTapo P210M smart outlet, if all I want to do is turn a receptacle on and off remotely, I can do that directly from SmartThings. With future updates, I will hopefully be able to view energy usage from SmartThings as well.
Setup Is Much Simpler
Installing a Matter-compatible device is straightforward. I know that when I open the box, all I need to do is tap the “+” plus button in SmartThings to add a device and scan the QR code that comes included. As long as the device I’m attempting to add is turned on, it will soon pop up in SmartThings, where I can give it a name and assign it a room.
This is so much better than having to download yet another app, create another account to store in my password manager and go through the song and dance of figuring out how this particular device wants to pair with my phone or connect to the internet.
Knowing that I already know how to set up a device and add it to my ecosystem makes me more likely to make a purchase. I don’t have much interest in playing around with lights and outlets to figure out how to get them to work. I just want them to work, only with a few more features than the ones I already have.
Matter isn’t perfect. In fact, there’s still a lot of work left to do. I like Matter so much in part because Samsung does a good job of supporting the standard. Google, meanwhile, is much further behind.
To truly take control of my smart home, Matter helps, but a more durable answer lies in the open-source, community-supported, and actively developedsmart home hub called Home Assistant. Someday, maybe, I’ll give it a shot.
