At a glitzy event announcing new smart home devices on September 20, the biggest names in smart home technology weren't talking about their biggest innovations in smart home technology. The world's largest smartphone maker did not participate in the recent event, and neither did the second-largest smartphone maker. And the undisputed king of the web, the company whose browser, mobile phone, or search engine you've probably used in the last 15 minutes? No, no.
The Matter connectivity and interoperability standard was proudly launched in November by Amazon, Apple, Samsung, Google, and hundreds of other companies. It is designed to completely solve the connectivity problem between smart home devices and platforms, providing a single communication protocol that everything, and I mean everything, should work on. That's how it should be, anyway.
However, a year after the smart home standard was released, adoption has stalled and the standard has not been improved or iterated. In early September, I met Chris La Pre at the huge IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin. Chris is the Head of Technology at the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), which leads the Matter standard and manages the herd of cats responsible for its development. He acknowledged that there are about 1,000 “certified” devices listed on the CSA site, but he probably only has 30 on the market right now. This includes more than a dozen hubs sold by Google and Amazon.
Apparently, substance simply doesn't matter.
incredible invisible standards
At last week's “Wanderlust” event, Apple announced three new iPhones with USB-C, two new Watches, and new iOS 17 software. There was no mention of the specifications that helped create it. There are no new Matter features in the iOS 17 software, which ships on about 1 billion smartphones. In fact, the official guide released by Apple for reviewers doesn't mention this at all.
At a big event in Seattle on Wednesday, Amazon announced a slew of new smart home products, including new Eero routers, new Blink security devices, new FireTV equipment, and new Echo Hub smart home controllers. During the hour-and-a-half event, he mentioned the standards twice and glossed over the issue. I wasn't even sure if the Hub supported it. Amazon just said it supports Thread. (Yes, they are different. This is another reason why it's all so confusing.)
Amazon Echo Hub is a new, inexpensive smart home controller. (Image provided by: Amazon)
The CSA team has not released any press releases for Matter since bringing dozens of products to market in Amsterdam in November 2022.
At IFA 2023, Samsung took over the entire building called CityCube. Inside, we found demos of dozens of smartphones and consumer electronics, mentions of 6G, and even a collaboration with a creative studio called Toilet Paper (really!). However, Matter was not mentioned.
Google's blog hasn't mentioned Matter since last December, when the spec was finally supported on Nest devices…well, on some devices anyway. The majority of Nest thermostats, the brand's most popular product installed in millions of U.S. homes, do not support this standard and may never support it due to technical challenges. It is high.
Nine months ago, Google wrote optimistically: “We'll see a few Matter devices in stores this holiday season, and many more in early 2023.” “Look for the new Matter badge to see which products are Matter-enabled.” IFA 2023 will feature thousands of new washers, blenders, and TVs in every color and shape across thousands of square feet of exhibition floor. , high-tech products were exhibited. And the substance was almost nowhere to be found.
A company called Midea has launched a Matter-enabled dishwasher, and Philips Hue has finally announced support for Matter, as well as several cameras that the company says will support enhanced versions of the spec in the future. But in most cases, those badges were nowhere to be found.
it doesn't look intentional
Matter's invisibility is partially by design. Thanks to the specifications and cross-brand compatibility, everything should work fine. Light bulbs and doorbells communicate seamlessly and smoothly with security cameras and stereos. Therefore, there is no need to advertise or mention specifications. Matter will do the trick. In reality, today's Matter devices rarely communicate with each other, instead requiring a hub like a Samsung Station or Google Nest Hub.
And the CSA noted that the standard was built to allow founding companies like Google and Apple to endorse their platforms rather than the Matter smart home app. At the end of his Google blog post from last December: “To make sure devices from other brands have been tested to work well with Google devices, also look for the Works With Google Home badge.” Advice is given in an easy-to-understand manner.
With no apps on their phones, no settings on their iPhone or Android devices, no option to check Windows, and no logos anywhere on the Windows, iOS, or Android software, consumers can't see anything and there's no problem. is completely behind the scenes.
A word about light bulbs
The Verge's smart home critic Jennifer Pattison Toohey wrote about her “light bulb moment” at IFA 2022 when she saw a Google Nest Hub controlling an Apple HomeKit smart plug. In fact, many of the “Matter compatible” devices on the market today are light bulbs. And it's a shame that smart home developers, standard manufacturers, and commentators are so obsessed with light bulbs.
Michelle Turner, senior director of Google's smart home ecosystem, told me last year: “There's a saying at Google: If it's not as fast and reliable as a light switch, why would you do it?”
The Eve Smart Light Switch with Matter was meant to control all your smart light bulb options. (Image credit: Eve)
The problem is that light bulbs don't get smarter. Wall switches are easy to understand and work instantly. Anything less feels shabby. Combined with the fact that turning off the wall switch cuts off power to the smart bulb and renders the smart functionality useless, it's a recipe for disaster.
In June, I met with smart home giant Vivint to announce their new series of smart lights. The company's controls are a surprisingly elegant solution to the problem, simply mounting them on top of your existing physical switches and disabling them. Vivint Smart Lighting supports the Zigbee standard, but Matter does not. Jim Nye, chief product officer, and Rasesh Patel, chief operating officer, described a “wait-and-see” approach to Matter. The wait time seemed to be quite long.
It's hard to see how that approach differs from that taken by Google, Samsung, Amazon, and Apple. Without momentum, will the dream of an integrated smart home fall apart before it even begins?