Dave McQuilling
The Matter smart home standard has just received a major boost. Samsung is applying the standard to its SmartThings home hubs — and you may already own one of the devices the South Korean company is updating.
Following the update, the applicable SmartThing’s hubs are capable of controlling all Matter certified devices. Both second and-third generation hubs will get the update, so even if you have a slightly older home assistant you’ll still be “Matter ready.” While Matter-certified devices aren’t too common as things stand, there are plenty of “Matter-ready” items on the market which will be ready to go once the standard fully launches in the near future. Samsung itself has selected “TVs and Family Hub refrigerators to support the functionality.
Matter is a new standard which aims to get smart devices working together seamlessly. Unless you bought all of your devices from a handful of manufacturers, your smart home may have been plagued with compatibility issues and getting everything going probably involved numerous apps of varying quality. Matter aims to change that, with everything “Matter certified” being designed to work seamlessly with all other Matter devices.
Along with the hub update, Samsung’s SmartThing’s app has received an update allowing it to control all Matter devices on the network. SmartThings “hubs” will get the update over the air, while android users can update it on their smartphone or tablet.
Google’s Home app received a similar update earlier this month which made it ready to work with Matter-enabled devices. The update, which will be available to Public Preview users first, also adds a script editor — allowing users to customize their smart home to an extreme level. The app was launched alongside a number of “matter-ready” devices, which will be good to go once certification is taken care of.
Despite the progress being made, the standard still has a long way to go. Its full launch was pushed back to this year, and the majority of products that will eventually work with Matter are currently going through a lengthy certification process. Samsung and Google are just two of the tech giants on board with Matter. Other household names involved include Apple and Amazon, while many smaller manufacturers will be looking to get their devices Matter certified.
Source: Samsung
