Matter update adds support for nine smart home device types including large appliances and safety sensors

The nine new device types include appliances like refrigerators, room air conditioners, dishwashers, washing machines, robot vacuums, fans and air purifiers. They will support basic start stop and operational controls like temperature settings (refrigerators and ACs), modes (robot vacuums and fans) as well as progress notifications like cycle completion and error reporting. Air quality sensors and smoke and CO₂ alarms have also been added, with notifications for alarm signalling and sensor readings.

In addition to new device types, there are new features that will help client applications represent individual devices based on their colour/finish, as well as their location around the home and in multi-device clusters. The addition of generic descriptions and operational states is another step towards enabling users to get a one-stop access point to all devices, without resorting to separate apps or ecosystems for different functions. 

With this update, the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) has made a huge leap in strengthening the backend for connected devices to talk to one another. However, realising the ultimate goal of a perfectly unified smart home required several more pieces to fall into place. Both device manufacturers as well as app ecosystems like Amazon Alexa, Apple Home and Google Home will still have to implement these specifications on their end, and that could take some time.

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