Residents have begun moving into the first building at a stylish urban residential community designed by internationally renowned architecture firm EDI International and design agency Jules Wilson. The Matter Residences are set in a new mixed-use project by reputable real estate developer Vestra at UnCommons.
Unlike the other smart home industry standards, Matter doesn’t have its own app, nor is it a platform that connects devices from multiple companies. Instead, it provides the language that devices use to talk to each other. The four major smart home platforms — Apple Home, Google Home, Amazon Alexa and Samsung SmartThings — have all agreed to support Matter, meaning their apps, voice assistants, speakers, hubs and displays can be used to control these new devices. Other companies, such as Philips Hue and Aqara, have also said their apps will become Matter controllers.
As for connecting existing devices to the Matter standard, some will get an upgrade through software, while others might need hardware changes. Several companies, such as Yale locks with swappable modules and Eve’s smart plugs with Thread radios, have already announced plans to update their products to be Matter-compatible, along with Nanoleaf, which says all its current and future light bulbs will have Matter support through firmware updates.
Despite the hype, Matter is still in its early stages. CSA’s Mindala-Freeman acknowledges that bringing Matter to life has been a challenge, and she says that it will be some time before the technology reaches a critical mass of users. Even so, she believes the new smart home standard will help us “get to a point where our smart homes work together regardless of brand.” matter residences