The latest smart home standard is getting some new improvements that should make setting up your smart home environment and all of its devices much easier. These improvements include new setup methods for adding new devices to your network, and all of it is thanks to Matter.
Matter kicked off with a bumpy start as support and overall experience were all over the place. This was because everyone had to get on the same page, and companies weren’t exactly making it happen. Some things properly supported Matter, some didn’t, and things just weren’t communicating from one hub/ecosystem to the other. However, as companies rolled out new firmware updates, things started to eventually smooth out, and the new standard finally started to show its potential.
Since then, it has never been easier to add new Matter-supported devices to your network. Most ecosystems involve a simple scan of a QR code, and in a few moments, you are typically finished and making use of your new devices.
New features have continuously rolled out for the smart home standard as it continues to grow through its generational specs, and the latest additions prove even more that Matter has the ability to take the world by storm (potentially making certain other standards a little obsolete.
The latest Matter spec version will be 1.4.1, and two of its biggest enhancements will be the ability to add multiple products in one single scan of a QR code, as well as support for NFC. So you will be able to quickly add an entire box/kit of products (smart plugs, light bulbs, etc) to your setup using a single QR code instead of a separate QR code for each individual product in the set. As well as skip QR codes altogether by simply tapping a new device to your phone.
Of course, this means that all devices related will need to support the new 1.4.1 version of Matter in order to make use of this. So it will likely be newer devices since companies will have to roll them out with a new QR code or with NFC support built in. But this says great things about the smart home standard and shows that we have a lot to look forward to as it continues to push forward.
You can already find plenty of Matter-supported products via places like Amazon, showing that the standard has been growing fast and more devices are popping up every month.
