Google Home, Nest, and Android smart devices have been updated to support the Matter standard, with some even functioning as Thread border routers, according to an announcement the company made earlier this week. Now Eve has someone else officially joining the list of smart home products running the Matter protocol. But don’t worry. Google says more members of Matter’s brains, the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CTA), will make updates in time for the holidays.
This means Google Home Speaker, Google Home Mini, Nest Mini, Nest Audio, Nest Hub (1st and 2nd gen), Nest Hub Max, and the new Nest WiFi Pro can all act as a Matter Hub. This opens up a gateway to the rest of your home, allowing you to control a multitude of Matter-enabled devices all from Google’s interface.
After a highly anticipated launch earlier this year, it looks like Matter’s dream is finally starting to take shape. Originally he started in 2019, the goal of this project was to reduce fragmentation within his smart home space, with the goal of starting in 2021. It was in his October that the standard and its certification program were published.
Google updates Android Fast Pairing to ease onboarding of Matter and Thread devices
Google has also updated Fast Pair to support Matter, and experts say it will let you pair Matter-enabled devices to your home network “as fast as you pair your headphones.”
Once the devices are connected, Google says it will be even easier to link Matter devices with apps and the rest of the smart home ecosystem. Additionally, the company says it has updated its Nest Wi Pro, Nest Hub Max, and Nest Hub (2nd Gen) to act as Thread border routers. This will allow users to connect his Thread-enabled products as well, allowing them to onboard any number of devices such as smart locks and environmental sensors to their home network.
In other related news, Samsung also announced that it is working with Google on updates to make both Google Home and SmartThings compatible through their management protocol. This means that when available, SmartThings devices can act as a control hub for Google Home products and vice versa. This makes it easy to incorporate different brands into one space.
Amazon, another of the alliance’s founders, also said 17 of its popular Echo devices will be upgraded to standard later this month.