Anyone who has been following smart home automation for the last five years or so is probably familiar with the Matter protocol. Matter was introduced several years ago as the solution to smart devices incapable of communicating due to different protocols. But to this point, Matter has been underwhelming. Despite its development, it still isn’t helping home automation that much.
How It Came About
To get to the real meat of this post, I have to provide a basic explanation of how Matter came about. Check out this post on the CNet website if you want more details on Matter’s history. Author Chris Wedel does a fantastic job laying out the whole thing.
In a nutshell, the early days of what we consider modern home automation were dominated by just two communication protocols. Few manufacturers were willing to get involved until Wi-Fi emerged as the de facto standard. When that happened, home automation was transformed from basic power switches to devices capable of doing all sorts of things.
Things got complicated when the leading home automation players started creating their own unique ecosystems – ecosystems that forced consumers to stay inside their proprietary borders. That paradigm is still in play today. Unfortunately, devices from one ecosystem do not play well with those from another.
Some of the biggest names in home automation eventually got together and determined the industry needed a standard protocol. From that decision, Matter was born. Matter was to become the standard protocol by which all smart home devices could connect.
It Works as Advertised
Fairness dictates mentioning that Matter works as advertised. Any Matter certified device can connect with any other. That means you can have smart switches from one manufacturer connect to a hub from another manufacturer via Matter. So, what’s the problem? Matter’s limitations.
As Wedel points out in his piece, Matter works very well as a connection protocol. As a control protocol, not so much. Connecting devices through Matter basically limits control to turning power on or off. If you have a smart light bulb with multiple dimmer settings and the ability to change colors, you can easily control all those features with the mobile app that came with the product. You can’t control them through the Matter app.
Wedel wants to be able to use all the advanced features that come with his smart devices. So even though he could connect them all with Matter, he is forced to keep 38 apps on his phone. If he gets rid of the apps, Matter will only allow him to power the devices on and off.
Not Many Alternatives
There are alternatives to Matter, but not many. The first alternative is to go with a brand like Vivint Home Security, a brand that works to ensure its home automation systems work with other major brands. But Vivint can’t support every brand on the market. So even that has its limits.
The second option is to build a system from scratch using an independent platform like Home Assistant. Home Assistant achieves compatibility through community-built integrations that, for the most part, give you access to a device’s advanced features. But if no integration exists for your devices, they won’t connect to Home Assistant.
The final option is to pick an ecosystem and live with it. I suspect that’s what most people do now. Even if they purchase devices that are supported by Matter, they choose an ecosystem because doing so gives them access to advanced features. So much for Matter becoming the standard protocol that saved home automation.
