MATTER AND THREAD
Matter is a communications protocol enabling a variety of smart home devices to talk to each other. At the moment, Apple uses HomeKit as its communication standard for smart devices, while Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home use their own technologies. Having to support three different technologies makes life very difficult for the manufacturers of smart devices – which is one reason why so few manufacturers support HomeKit. So, in the future, Matter will provide one single communications technology that allows all sorts of smart devices to work with Siri and the Home app on Apple devices, but also with millions of other devices that use Amazon Alexa or Google Home.
Matter commands can be transmitted from one device to another using conventional Wi-Fi networks, Ethernet, or Bluetooth. There’s a problem here, though, as using Ethernet requires fixed, wired connections, which may not be convenient in many homes. Using Wi-Fi is more convenient and ideal for portable devices too, but does require quite a lot of power – and that causes problems for battery-powered devices, such as security cameras or sensors that need to be connected to your Wi-Fi network 24 hours a day for months at a time. Bluetooth is more power-efficient, but has a more limited range, so it’s not ideal for connecting several devices that may be scattered throughout different rooms within your home.
FOLLOW THE THREAD
The solution to that problem is Thread – a new wireless technology that has the low power requirements of Bluetooth, combined with the greater speed and range of Wi-Fi. The first Apple product to support Thread was the HomePod mini, which was launched back in 2020, with Thread quietly being included as preparation for the arrival of Matter – finally launched in October 2022.
A number of other manufacturers have been including Thread in their lights, security cameras and other devices over the last couple of years, although it remains to be seen if these devices can be upgraded to support Matter as well. Apple’s website states that the Home app on Apple devices has now been upgraded to support Matter as well as HomeKit. The new Apple TV 4K that was launched in October last year – following the October release of Matter – was the first Apple product that supports both Matter and Thread straight out of the box, ready for the next stage in the evolution of smart home technology.