After many years of teasing and promises, in 2022 Matter finally came out in November. The smart home standard that wants to connect all the products in your home, regardless of ecosystem and manufacturer, is officially ready to go, and many devices are being updated to support it. Today, Google announced that it’s also moving forward, saying that most of the great smart home devices and almost all Android phones now come with Matter.
Over the past few weeks, Google has begun updating millions of Android devices and many of its smart home products, and the company says the rollout is complete today.
Perhaps most interestingly for Android users, the update will bring support for Fast Pair. This will allow you to connect a new Matter-enabled smart home device with the click of a button, similar to how you can quickly connect the latest and greatest headphones and other accessories.
The Google Home app for Android also introduces support for the standard that’s necessary to have a true hub where all the important devices can be gathered. If iOS is more your thing, things are moving a little slower, as Google Home for that platform will get Matter support in 2023.
Additionally, Google’s smart home devices are getting Matter support. The company introduced the smart home standard for the following devices:
- The original Google Home speaker
- Google Home Mini.
- Nest Mini.
- Nest Audio.
- Nest Hub (Gen 1 & 2)
- Nest Hub Max.
- Nest Wifi Pro.
In addition, the Nest Wifi Pro, Nest Hub Max and Nest Hub (2nd generation) can be called Thread border routers, bringing full Matter support to your smart home devices. Let’s make it clear that Matter works on a number of different communication standards, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Thread. The latter is a low-power network that runs parallel to your Wi-Fi network and is best suited for low-power devices such as smart locks.
There are some notable flaws in Google’s lineup, but the company is clear that more Nest devices will be updated next year, 2023. Older Nest Wifi and 2020 The Nest Thermostat will also support the standard.
Google also wants to improve Matter’s Multi Admin feature in 2023. and partnered with Samsung SmartThings for an easy way to add smart home devices to both platforms without a lengthy setup process. This is perfect for households where people prefer different platforms.
In general, Matter’s rollout has been slow since the big November announcement, but that could change now. Google is one of the biggest players in this space, and thus the gatekeeper, so with the company adding support for the standard, we could soon see a number of smart home gadgets shipping with Matter. In fact, Google says it’s partnered with Eve, Meross, Nanoleaf, Philips Hue, and Tuya to support Matter.