The first update to the Matter smart home standard doesn’t bring any new device-types

Matter launched with a bang six months ago, but has been eerily quiet since then. With only a few new products available to buy, delays in promised updates to existing products, and a glacial rollout of support for the new smart home standard from major platforms — notably Google and Amazon — it hasn’t been a success for many. has (me included) hoped for. and today’s Announcing the release of Matter 1.1 Won’t help matters.

Matter’s first major update doesn’t bring anything new; It’s just bug fixes and tweaks. There’s no support for any of the new device types previously promised: no robot vacuums, no tools, no garage door controllers, definitely no cameras, and no experience connecting one device to multiple platforms There is no improvement in

CSA says in its Press release that “Matter 1.1 creates a better path for developers and new user experiences.” This includes making it easier for developers to build and certify products, with CSA opening its own Mater test center in Portland, Oregon to help with the latter. Developer can download Substance 1.1 Specifications And matter 1.1 sdk Today.

The “new user experiences” seem limited to fixing a common problem I’ve noticed since I started testing Matter products: devices appearing offline in Platform apps, even though they’re still connected and working. Matter 1.1 will provide “enhancements” for “intermittently connected devices” (typically battery-powered devices such as sensors, door locks, and switches), which will “reduce the likelihood that the device will fail when the user or the platform interacts with it.” Will be reported offline.” This.”

The first range of Matter products (CSA says it certifies 1,135 products, though not all of them are available to buy yet) Many of these include ICD devices. So this is a much needed fix. Not being able to manage devices from their platform of choice appears to be a disconnected strike at the heart of Matter’s promise of cross-platform compatibility.

Speaking of, multi-admin control is still a huge glitch, and 1.1 doesn’t fix it. Matter is designed to connect and control devices from multiple platforms – such as Apple Home, Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and Samsung SmartThings. In practice, as I’ve found with every Matter device I’ve tested, including the Nanoleaf bulb and a TP-Link Smart Plug, it’s easier to have one device paired to one platform than work to the other.

To be fair to CSA, it’s really the platforms that need to fix this. The problem is that there is no longer any incentive that Matter has launched to make this process easy and straightforward. Currently, there are separate flows for each platform, and although pairing a Matter device is supposed to be as simple as scanning a QR code, it’s often unclear. Who You need a QR code. The mater code on the device can only be used for pairing on one platform. To add to the second you will need to get a new code from the first platform. This multi-admin control is an important part of using Matter, and right now, it’s confusing and complicated – the exact opposite of what Matter should be.

To make matters worse (yes, I can’t help it), when you go to each platform and go looking for instructions on connecting your device to another platform, they don’t address this either. Or offer useful variations of the following statement. : “Contact support for that third-party service to get help with sharing Matter devices.” Try going through that loop and see where you get. (No. I did it for you, and it’s not worth it.)

The CSA is the governing body here, and needs to step in and deal with this problem rather than leaving it up to each forum to handle it. Perhaps Matter 1.1 was not the place to do it; Bug fixes and tweaks are up to par for the 1.1 rollout. But we need to see some improvement soon, or other benefits of mater that we Near seen – such as faster, local control, improved security and reliability – will be lost in the muddle of current experience.

While there is no news on what the next release will be called (1.2, 2.0), CSA has committed to twice-yearly updates, with the next coming in the fall of 2023. CSA said we can expect to see new features and new device types supported with that release, but again, they’ve said that before.