After years of teases and promises, Matter finally launched in November 2022. The smart home standard that wants to interconnect all products in your home regardless of ecosystem and manufacturer is officially ready to be used, and many devices are getting updated to support it. Today, Google has announced that it is also jumping on the bandwagon, stating that most of its great smart home devices and virtually all Android phones are now equipped with Matter.
Google started updating the millions upon millions of Android devices out there and many of its smart home products these past few weeks, and the company says that the rollout is finished as of today.
What’s probably most exciting for Android users is that the update will enable support for Fast Pair. This will allow you to connect a new smart home device that supports Matter with the tap of a button, similar to how you can quickly connect the latest and greatest earbuds and other accessories.
The Google Home app for Android is also introducing support for the standard, which is necessary in order to have a true hub to collect all devices that support matter. If iOS is more of your jam, things are moving a tad slower, with Google Home for this platform getting Matter support in 2023.
On top of that, Google’s smart home devices are receiving support for Matter. The company brought the smart home standard to the following devices:
- The original Google Home speaker
- Google Home Mini
- Nest Mini
- Nest Audio
- Nest Hub (1st and 2nd gen)
- Nest Hub Max
- Nest Wifi Pro
Additionally, the Nest Wifi Pro, Nest Hub Max, and the Nest Hub (2nd gen) can serve as so-called Thread border routers, enabling full Matter support for your smart home devices. To explain, Matter is operating on a number of different connectivity standards like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Thread. The latter is a low-energy network that lives parallel to your Wi-Fi network and is best for low-power devices like smart locks.
There are a few notable omissions in Google’s lineup, but the company makes clear that more Nest devices will receive the update next year, in 2023. The older Nest Wifi and the 2020 Nest Thermostat will support the standard then, too.
Google also wants to make Matter’s Multi Admin feature better in 2023, and is working with Samsung SmartThings on an easy option to add smart home devices to both platforms without a lengthy setup process. This is great for households where people prefer different platforms.
Overall, the Matter rollout have been moving slowly following the big November announcement, but that might change now. Google is one of the biggest player in the area and thus a gatekeeper, so with the company adding support for the standard, we might soon see a ton of smart home gadgets that ship with Matter. In fact, Google says it’s working with Eve, Meross, Nanoleaf, Philips Hue, and Tuya to support Matter.
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