The Connectivity Standards Alliance has introduced the second significant enhancement to Matter, introducing Matter 1.2, which includes the inclusion of nine additional device categories to the smart home standard.
At the launch of Matter 1.0 last year the number of support devices was low, but that number has jumped to 17. The new Matter 1.2 specification adds refrigerators, room air conditioners and fans, dishwashers, washing machines, robotic vacuums, smoke & carbon monoxide alarms, air quality sensors, air purifiers. These types of devices will mean that they support will be available in Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings.
The initial set of features for most of the new device types is limited to basic controls. So for instance controls (start/stop and switch modes for your washing machine will be supported.
But support for robot cleaners is far more comprehensive. You should be able to remote start and stop, along with activating various cleaning modes including support for wet mopping. Users will also receive notifications when clean cycle is complete concerning and error reporting, along with charging status.
New Matter 1.2 devices?
While the recently introduced Matter standard now includes support for these new categories, it may take some time before we witness products that are compatible with Matter hitting the market or offering backward compatibility for existing devices through software updates. A brief examination of the Matter certification database on the CSA website indicates that there are currently no certified products available for these new device categories. Although SwitchBot did share that they plan to support Matter in its new SwitchBot S10, although this device is still in kickstarter stage
Doorbell systems and smart security cameras are notably absent from the current list. There were expectations that our smart cameras would be integrated into the Matter framework by 2023, but it appears we’ll need to wait until 2024 for their inclusion.
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[…] will be coming its K10+ and S10 robot vacuums in January 2024. This developed follows on from Matter 1.2 becoming available to developers to bring new product categories into Matter. This announcement […]