Google's smart home devices now support the Matter standard
You'll be able to use Google Home and Nest devices as hubs for Matter-enabled products.
The Matter standard can only simplify the use of smart home devices from various brands if products actually support it. Today, Google has announced that it has enabled Matter support for its Nest and Android devices — you don't even have to download or install any update. That means the Google Home speaker, Google Home Mini, Nest Mini, Nest Audio, Nest Hub (1st and 2nd gen), Nest Hub Max and the new Nest WiFi Pro, can now serve as a hub for Matter that you can use to control your smart home.
Google has also rolled out Matter support for Fast Pair on Android, and the tech giant says it will give you the capability to pair Matter-enabled devices to your home network "as quickly as you can pair a set of headphones." Once your devices are connected, this feature will also make it easy to link Matter devices with apps and smart home ecosystems. In addition, the tech giant has updated the Nest Wi Pro, the Nest Hub Max and the Nest Hub (2nd gen) to function as Thread border routers. That way, you can use them to connect products that support Thread, the networking protocol for low-power devices such as smart locks, to your home network.
The Connectivity Standards Alliance, which Google is a part of, has been working on the Matter standard since 2019 to solve the smart home space's fragmentation issue and make it easier to use products from different companies. It originally intended to launch the standard in 2021, but it had to delay Matter's release a couple of times before it finally rolled out the standard's version 1.0 specification and product certification program this October. Shortly after Matter officially came out, Samsung announced that it's working with Google so that you can easily add devices already set up with SmartThings to Google Home, and vice versa. Amazon, one of the Alliance's other founders, also listed the 17 Echo devices that will support the standard starting this month.
While very few products are Matter-enabled at the moment, Google says you'll see more come out these holidays and in early 2023. All devices that support the standard will be marked with the Matter badge and will work with the aforementioned Google products and all other Matter devices out of the box.
