Matter 1.1 release – Enhancements for developers and devices (opens in new tab)

>Then there are problems specific to Apple's IoT stack - like how it's impossible to set an RGB capable light to a ~specific~ white color temperature. Instead you get a shade picker and you have to guess what the color temperature is.

I can guarantee that light is sent a hex value and what you are describing is a UI choice to dumb it down for most users.

> Then there are problems specific to Apple's IoT stack - like how it's impossible to set an RGB capable light to a ~specific~ white color temperature. Instead you get a shade picker and you have to guess what the color temperature is.

That's a problem with the atrociously, comically, terribly badly designed Home app, not with HomeKit itself. If it weren't for the "Controller for HomeKit" app, I would have given up on HK long ago. Controller lets you pick/assign a color temp directly.

I've been very happy with the combination of HK, Controller app, and Homebridge for integrating non-HK devices. Controller is worth it just for its ability to back up and restore your HK configuration and makes replacing devices a tolerable experience. It has tons of other features besides.

https://controllerforhomekit.com/

Were the Wifi or Thread?

I'm generally disenchanged with Wifi for bulbs and such - having SO MANY devices on my network has been a big maintenance and performance pain on the 2.4 bands - and have been thinking about moving away from that to Thread (which seems to be new replacement for the old non-wifi Z-wave/Zigbee).

Matter is a consortium effort by IoT vendors and enablers (Amazon, Apple, Google, Legrand, Silicon Labs to name a few interesting members) to consolidate (and hopefully commoditize) the space.

It is IPv6-based and standardized devices need to be able to operate without internet access. Devices can talk to one another directly, and it is possible to have multiple admins at once, e.g. I could have Siri and Alexa both understand the same light switch.

It is similar to GATT in Bluetooth; a certain level of composability of hardware devices offering sets of functionalities in the way of attributes and commands. - say for example, a smart speaker which can function as a two-way intercom and also has a humidity sensor and temperature sensor.

The spec defines Wifi networks but also networks using Thread, a low power mesh network which is IPv6 based, using 6LoWPAN and 802.15.4 wireless (so, a sibling of sorts to Zigbee).

Thread with Matter allow for both always-powered devices and "sleepy" battery-operated devices, which leverage those always-powered devices as routers in the mesh.

I haven't looked into that part yet, but you can also have higher bandwidth services over Wifi such as cameras and streaming. Amazon for example seems to be pushing for casting-style functionality to be standardized there (to compete against Airplay and Chromecast.)

It's an IoT standard / ecosystem developed by Google. So that you could control e.g. smart home devices through Google apps, similar to Apple HomeKit or Home Assistant. One annoying thing about Matter is that it's built on top of a networking protocol called Thread, which has no relationship to threads. Thread runs on top of Zigbee, Bluetooth Low Energy, or WiFi. It's pretty much a standard for a REST API with certain key/values for specfic application profiles. e.g. all IoT lights could use the same REST API so they are easier to integrate. Compared to many other IoT or embedded systems, Matter seems like it provides more and better resources to get started, however I haven't used it before. e.g. it provides open source tests for the application profiles. Google wants to push it as the 1 protocol that rules them all, but apps like Home Assistant might be more popular atm. Haven't used Matter but it seems like a good effort to get a whole bunch of small embedded devices doing things in the same way.

It's still pretty new and poised to be very widespread, you'll figure it out eventually I'm sure.

That page can definitely be improved. I know what Matter is and I was exited to know what enhancements were brought, but it is kinda hard to say from that page. I did not take the time to read the full specification or understand what the SDK is doing, but I somehow expected that page to summarize it.

Edit: Maybe I shouldn't be doxing myself.

I don't know what matter wants to be either.

You mean security camera integration?

What do you expect from that?