Matter 1.1 fixes bugs but doesn’t add any new features

At the end of last year, the Connectivity Standards Alliance launched the new smart home standard Matter. FWD was also present in November during the official launch. Matter initially offers support for lamps and switches, smart plugs, sensors and a few other smart devices and wants to connect ‘everything-with-everything’, regardless of manufacturer or smart home platform. It was announced that we can expect a major update to the standard twice a year with improvements and product groups added.

Matter 1.1 has been released

Matter 1.1 is now here, so the first major update is timely. The necessary improvements are being made, but no new product groups have been added. So what can you expect in the first major update to the new smart home standard? In a press release, the CSA says that it is now easier for developers to start with Matter. It is easier to certify products and get them to the user faster. Users now have improved support for battery-powered devices called Intermittently Connected Devices (ICDs), also known as sleeping devices. This includes sensors for movement or temperature, but also smart locks and switches that work on a battery and that, to save energy, are in a sleep mode in between. Matter sometimes saw these devices as offline in sleep mode, so that shouldn’t happen now. There are also smaller improvements and bug fixes in the update.

The term ‘major update’ therefore does not seem to really cover Matter 1.1. Nevertheless, the CSA is not standing still. Since the release of Matter, 1,135 new Matter products have been certified and 60 new manufacturers have joined. Despite the release, we still have to be patient until Matter really becomes the standard. For this, the problems must first be solved, including with a superpower like Philips Hue. It also doesn’t help if a company like Wemo (from Belkin) pulls out.