SmartThings app on iOS now supports Matter

AppleInsider

Samsung has updated SmartThings, its smart home app on iOS, with support for the Matter device protocol to help expand device ecosystems.

Samsung SmartThings app

In October, Samsung updated the SmartThings platform and has now integrated it into its mobile app.

The 642MB app is available from the App Store and requires iOS 13 or later, iPhone 6s or later and iPad mini 4 or later. It's compatible with hundreds of smart home brands and devices, such as appliances, speakers, and other smart devices.

Matter is a new protocol for smart home devices designed to expand the smart home ecosystem and make devices more straightforward for people to use and integrate with their homes. Devices from different ecosystems, such as Homekit and SmartThings, can communicate with each other over Wi-Fi, Thread, and ethernet.

SmartThings Requirements

Samsung has a support page that lists various requirements that people need to use Matter devices. First, a Matter commissioner connects the Matter device to a Matter Controller during the onboarding process, and the SmartThings app acts as a commissioner.

There is also a software requirement for SmartThings to act as a Matter commissioner, which is different from the requirement to download and run the app. For example, an iOS device needs to run iOS 16.2 or higher and SmartThings App version 1.6.94 or higher.

SmartThings 2018 Hub

Next, people will need a Matter Controller, a hub responsible for controlling the Matter device after adding it to a network. Samsung Matter controllers include the SmartThings 2018 Hub (IM6001-V3P01) running a firmware version 45.9 or higher, and Aeotec Smart Home Hub.

Finally, Matter devices are the last component to get started with a smart home. As long as the device has the Matter badge, users can connect it to any supported Matter Controller in the SmartThings app.

The Matter badge on the packaging will indicate if the device needs a Matter controller with a Thread border router.

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pichael

It already sounds far too complicated from the remit of making the smart home more accessible. 

beowulfschmidt

A YouTube channel I watch that is dedicated to HomeKit recently converted many of his devices to Matter.  It was not a simple process and has since had problems with devices dropping out.  With the exception of two that he added expressly to test out the Matter interoperability, all of his devices are HomeKit ones.

Whether it's Matter itself, or the various manufacturer's implementation of Matter, it seems like a good idea to wait, and if one's "smart home" is entirely HomeKit based, there doesn't seem to me to be a compelling reason to migrate right now, unless there is some must have non-HomeKit device that one has just been waiting for.