Matter, which has long been portrayed as the solution to all the smart home confusion, didn't have the best of launches. When it launched a couple of years ago, it faced several issues. It even confused smart home enthusiasts like us. But things have slowly gotten better.
Earlier, when you were out to buy a smart home device, you needed to consider what your smart home platform of choice would be. Then, you had to check if the device of your choice is certified for that platform. Today, a major announcement came from the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) that will surely make smart home nerds happy.
CSA has announced that devices with Matter certifications will automatically get ‘Works With Apple Home,' ‘Works With Google,' and ‘Works With SmartThings‘ certifications.
Apple has already started accepting Alliance Interop Lab test results for Matter devices. It means that devices certified for Matter are automatically being accepted by Apple for the ‘Works With Apple Home' badge.
CSA says that Google and Samsung will start doing the same for their ‘Works With Google' and ‘Works With SmartThings' certification programs.
It means smart home device makers won't have to apply for separate testing programs for Apple HomeKit, Google Home, Matter, and Samsung SmartThings separately. If their device gets the Matter badge, it will also get badges from Apple, Google, and Samsung by showing the Matter badge.
Watch Samsung's Ballie robot in our video below. It can follow you around, hear your commands, help you control smart home devices, and much more.
CSA has also announced its FastTrack Recertification Program and a Portfolio Certification Program. They will make it easier for smart home device makers to get certifications for multiple products or product families more efficiently. It will reduce the burden on those brands.
