After a series of delays, the smart home standard Matter continues to grow with Google leading the way.
Matter’s Launch and Adoption
Matter, the smart home standard, finally made its debut in November 2022 after facing a series of delays. The selection of Matter-compatible gadgets has since grown at an impressive pace, but the journey hasn’t been entirely smooth. Belkin, for example, abandoned the smart home standard just a year after revealing an upgraded range of its renowned smart home devices. In addition, Philips postponed the adoption of the standard for the Hue bridge without providing any justification.
Google Embraces Matter
Contrastingly, Google has fully committed to the protocol by incorporating Matter compatibility into a variety of its smart speakers and displays as of December 2022. Keeping its promise, Google is now updating the Nest Thermostat to support Matter.
Nest Thermostat Matter Rollout
A post on the Nest Community revealed that the rollout of Matter support for the Nest Thermostat began on April 18 and is expected to continue over the following weeks. The rollout of new firmware may take awhile for automatic updates and may take a few weeks.
Enhanced Device Communication and Control
Before Matter support, the Nest Thermostat could be controlled using Alexa and Samsung SmartThings. Now, with Matter compatibility, the thermostat can communicate more efficiently with local devices, resulting in a quicker and more reliable connection. For users of iPhones, iPads, and Macs, Matter compatibility enables control of home and office temperatures via the Home app. Siri support is also available, allowing users to forgo the app as long as their devices run the latest iOS or macOS versions.
Pairing the Nest Thermostat with Matter Devices
To connect the thermostat with another Matter app or device, a pairing code must be generated. However, the Google Home app for iOS has not yet been updated with Matter, preventing iPhone users from pairing the thermostat with other devices. The thermostat itself can generate the required pairing code.
Compatibility Limitations
It should be noted that Google’s Matter compatibility is currently limited to the 2020 Nest Thermostat. The company has not confirmed whether the Nest Learning Thermostat and Thermostat E will be updated with Matter compatibility in the future. As pointed out by The Verge, this advancement makes Google’s product the first smart thermostat to adopt the innovative smart home standard.