Along with the automation engine, Google announced a set of Home APIs and a Home runtime that can be used to access more than 600 million devices, Google's hub, and Matter infrastructure.
Matter is an open standard for smart home technology that enables devices to work together with the Matter Certified ecosystem using a single protocol. Matter was born out of the Connectivity Standards Alliance, an organization made up of hundreds of companies developing products for the smart home.
The new APIs start with device and structure APIs that can be used to control and manage devices already connected to Google Home, such as the Matter light bulb or the Nest Learning Thermostat. According to the announcement, developers can use the APIs to build complex apps that manage all aspects of a smart home, or easily integrate with smart devices for specific tasks, like automatically turning on lights before a food delivery driver arrives.
Google has emphasised the privacy and security aspects, stating that users are always in control and must explicitly grant access to their structures and smart home devices before the app can gain access.
The second addition is a Commissioning API that can be used to set up Matter devices in your app, the Home app, or directly with Android Fast Pair, without needing to create a new Matter fabric.
There's also a new Automation API that lets apps create and manage home automations using Google Home's new automation engine and intelligent signals. Automations can be triggered by device signals in your home, such as occupancy events from motion sensors, mode changes on appliances, and media events from your smart TV. You can also use Google's intelligent signals, such as Home and Away, which integrate signals from devices across your home for more accurate presence detection.
Alongside the new API, Google also announced plans to improve the Google Home hub, a device that enables remote access and local control of Matter devices over Wi-Fi and Thread. The improvements will upgrade the hub and introduce a new Home runtime, enabling other devices to become hubs, including Chromecast with Google TV, select panel TVs with Google TV running Android 14 or later, and eligible LG-branded TVs.
The Home API will be available in an upcoming preview.
For more information
Google Home API Preview Program
Matter Website
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