The vision that led major industry players to come together to build Matter is that smart connectivity should be simple, reliable, and interoperable.
Today, smart home users often have a number of different apps, devices and platforms which may or may not work together. They use multiple surfaces to control the various smart home devices they own — from mobile devices to smart speakers, hubs, smart switches, security systems, and more. This puts the burden on consumers when buying additional devices to figure out which ones may work with their existing platforms and devices, and may limit their choices.
Matter makes it easy to build and buy devices that work with each other. Multi-Admin is one of the core features that will help deliver on its promise of reducing smart home fragmentation and limitations, by giving users the flexibility to configure their smart home however they want. Consumers own and use many apps and devices, and Matter devices can work with any of them at the same time without requiring users to choose a single controller, platform, or app (or Administrative Service in Matter terminology).
Language barriers in the smart home
Many consumers are familiar with various ways of building their smart homes. This includes platforms from larger companies, as well as other applications like security, lighting, energy systems, and a variety of innovative smart home controllers. All offer various means of controlling your smart home devices through their interfaces, apps, voice assistants, or automations.
Without a common standard, all these platforms, controllers, and other systems have been using a variety of technologies and often their own protocols when connecting to smart home devices, putting the burden on manufacturers to support multiple ‘languages’, or simply pick the biggest ones. This usually means each platform or controller supports a different set of devices, and consumers have to navigate compatibility charts, and a variety of different setup and linking processes. All of that changes with Matter.
A common language, for everyone
Matter does not replace existing platforms. Instead, it gives platform providers and device manufacturers a new, common language to talk between devices locally and securely. With broad, unprecedented industry support, this means that smart home products bearing the Matter logo will work seamlessly with apps, assistants, and platforms that support Matter — right alongside the devices you already own. Multi-admin takes that universal interoperability even further, allowing users to connect their Matter devices to multiple platforms, apps, or other control points, so they can control them where and how they choose.
Matter doesn’t just make today’s smart homes easier by increasing user choice and flexibility, it opens the door to new innovation — new devices, controllers, and platforms. Before Matter, building a smart home platform, controller, or even a light switch required building interoperability with an ever-growing number of devices and protocols. Even the most innovative smart home controller is of limited value if it only controls a few of the devices in your home. With Matter, anyone can build a compelling new smart home platform, app, or controller that’s compatible out of the box with a vibrant ecosystem of Matter devices.
Ready for the future.
Matter ushers in a new era of smart home interoperability that seamlessly integrates into current devices, platforms, and apps, while offering full flexibility to add new devices and create a unified smart home that works exactly how you want it to.
Want to learn more about what’s next for Matter? Visit Build With Matter for more details on this transformative industry–unifying standard, and how to join the Connectivity Standards Alliance to participate in the Matter Work Group and help build the future of the IoT today.