Matter comes to Google Nest and Android devices

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Google today announced that it has completed the initial rollout of Matter on its Google Nest products and Android operating system. This means that the Matter smart home standard, first developed by Google, Apple, Samsung, Amazon and others, now has the foundation to start delivering on its ambitious promises: interoperability, simplicity, security, and a smart home that works.

Over the past few weeks, Google has upgraded millions of Google Nest smart speakers, displays and Wi-Fi routers to Matter, as well as billions of Android phones and tablets. The company says the transition will be completed today, December 15. Android devices must be running Android 8.1 and above and Google Play Services 22.48.14, while Google Nest devices require the latest firmware updates. The update means that Android and Google Home users can now connect Google devices with Matter devices from other manufacturers.

All Google smart speakers and displays now support Matter. Image: Google

Along with the Google Home app and Android OS, these Nest devices are the first to get Matter support as a Matter controller:

Nest MiniNest AudioNest Hub (1st gen)Nest Hub (2nd gen)Nest Hub MaxNest Wifi ProGoogle Home Google Home Mini

Google says other Nest devices, including the Nest Wifi and Nest Thermostat (2020 model), will be updated in 2023. The update also turns the Nest Wifi Pro, Nest Hub Max, and Nest Hub (2nd gen) into Thread border routers.

Matter devices can connect to your home network via Wi-Fi or Thread. Those using Threads need a Thread border router to communicate with non-Thread devices and the internet.

A demonstration of how Google’s Fast Pair process will work to integrate Matter devices into your home network. Image: Google

Google also announced it will bring Matter support to its iOS app in early 2023. Currently, you can only use one Android device to pair Matter devices to Google Home. But once a device is on your home network, you can control it with any Matter-compatible iOS app, including Google Home.

As part of the update, Fast Pair on Android is also getting Matter support to help you quickly add a new gadget to the Google Home app or other Matter-enabled apps like Samsung SmartThings.

Google is the third of the big four smart home platforms to enable Matter control on their devices and mobile phones, after Apple and Samsung. Amazon said it will enable its smart speakers and displays as Matter controllers over Wi-Fi later this year, with Thread support coming in 2023.

The first categories of devices that will work with Matter include smart plugs, switches and light bulbs, smart thermostats, motorized blinds and smart locks. You’ll be able to recognize them thanks to the new Matter badge, which indicates that it will work right out of the box with Google Home and any Matter platform.

But don’t say goodbye to the Works with Google Home badge just yet. If a business has integrated and tested their products with Google, they will also have the Works With Google Home badge. Yes, badges are still a thing. It remains to be seen what exactly this will mean in terms of different features in different apps.

What is matter?

Matter is a new smart home interoperability standard that provides a common language for smart home devices to communicate locally in your home without relying on a cloud connection. It uses Wi-Fi and Thread wireless protocols and, in its first implementation, includes smart sensors, smart lighting, smart plugs and switches, smart thermostats, connected locks, and multimedia devices, including televisions.

All of this means that if a smart home device you buy features the Matter logo, you should be able to set it up and use it with any Matter-enabled device and on any Matter-enabled platform. Matter-compatible devices are expected to start becoming available towards the end of this year.

Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Samsung SmartThings and Apple Home are some of the big smart home platforms that support Matter. Apple, Samsung, and Google have updated their compatible hubs to be Matter controllers, and we expect to see updates coming to their other platforms soon.

We are still waiting for the Matter devices

While we now have a number of Matter controllers including speakers and displays from Google, the HomePod Mini, Samsung SmartThings hub, and Amazon Echo speakers and displays arriving later this year, we still don’t have many things to actually control with them. (No, you can’t control your HomePod Mini with the Google Home app or your Nest Hub Max with the Apple Home app, smart speakers aren’t yet a device category in Matter).

As of Monday, December 12, there are only three Eve devices that work with Matter. But other devices are coming. We’ve rounded up all the announced Matter-compatible products here, and expect to see a deluge of new products and updates to existing ones announced at CES next month.

Once there are more gadgets to play with, Matters’ Multi-Admin feature will allow those devices to work across multiple platforms. This means you can do things like control your Google Nest Thermostat (2020 model) in the Apple Home app. (No word yet on whether Google will upgrade the Nest Learning Thermostat to Matter.)

While all of this may be confusing to anyone who hasn’t followed it closely over the past three years, Matter’s purpose is to make setting up and using smart home devices much easier. Will he, though? Well, he starts to find out soon.

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