(Pocket-lint) – If you’ve ever wondered why certain smart home devices work with some but not other counterparts, you’ll want to know about Matter – the latest wireless interoperability standard threatening to shake up the industry.
In the works since 2019, with companies like Apple, Google, Amazon, Samsung and the Zigbee Alliance at the heart, the artist formerly known as ‘Project CHIP’ has now been transformed into a shiny, formalised brand – Matter.
The aim of Matter is still the same, but everything is now set to become much more official. The big names behind the protocol will soon be throwing their products into the newly-unified state, and that inevitably has a knock-on effect for consumers.
And, as ever, the ever-changing inner workings of the smart home can be complicated to unpack.
That’s why we’ve created this explainer, where we’ll be answering exactly what Matter is, what companies are actually doing about it and why it all … matters.
So, with that obligatory matter-related quip out of the way, let’s jump in.