2022 was a big year for tech. We saw ChatGPT make its public debut, Elon Musk completed his takeover of Twitter, and Google announced plans to shut down Stadia. However, one massive event that flew under the radar was the launch of Matter.
Matter is a network protocol that allows smart home products to communicate with one another, regardless of their apparent platform affiliation. Theoretically, it allows Amazon Alexa devices to talk to Google Home or Apple HomeKit-supported devices and vice versa. It also allows smaller brands to get into the mix. Matter was introduced as the glue required to create your fractious smart home environment.
At launch, Matter was hugely encouraging, and the protocol has seen constant support since. Android 15 will soon be able to control Matter devices, provided your device has the necessary hardware. However, we can’t help but wonder just how pervasive Matter-supported devices really are.
Considering this, have you bought any Matter-compatible smart home devices since its launch? Vote in our poll below.
We expected Matter to become the de facto smart home protocol a few years after its launch, but it’s unclear how many of our readers use it on a daily basis. We can’t help but feel that developing a smart home remains a huge financial investment but, more importantly, a considerable time investment. Many of us don’t have the time to piece together our ideal environment, but Matter should largely remedy this problem.
More importantly, we wonder how many people know that the devices they purchase are compatible with Matter or if they’ve bothered purchasing Matter devices entirely.
Whatever your situation, we’d love to hear your points of view on Matter. Please leave your comments below.