Home Assistant is now officially Matter certified

Advanced smart homes have been a topic of sci-fi movies for years. Kids who grew up in the 1990s will fondly remember Smart House, a classic Disney Channel Original Movie that dealt with a home with smart devices and its own artificial intelligence. Fast-forward to a quarter of a century later, and this idea has become a reality. Combine artificial intelligence products like Google Gemini with smart products like the Amazon Echo Show 5, and you’ve got yourself your own overbearing smart home. There’s a problem with setups that feature smart devices from multiple companies, though: they don’t always play nice with each other. Device interconnectivity matters, and that’s the point behind the Matter smart home standard. Many companies have bought in (sort of), but none more than one particular open-source project, and the latter has been rightfully rewarded for that.

Home Assistant, which is an open-source automation platform that is beginning to gain ground in the public consciousness, is one of the best ways to raise your home’s technological IQ. The project initially supported the Matter standard in beta back in 2023, but it has now officially been certified by the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), the body behind Matter, as a Matter controller (via The Verge). While this will not make any difference for users of Home Assistant, founder Paulus Schousten says that it will bring in newcomers to the platform due to the confidence that the certification badge instills.

Smart devices Matter

After an extremely lengthy certification process that required Home Assistant to be tested on every device that it’s compatible with, it has become the first open-source project to be certified. Home Assistant is a non-profit platform, and with more and more products being released that work as Matter controllers and products, there is a sense from Schousten that this will lead to more opportunities for innovation in the future. Even though companies like Amazon and Google support Matter, the infighting between them still leads to problems with cross-device communication, so Home Assistant’s status as a non-profit organization gives them a technological edge in this regard.

Google is buying in more to Matter’s inherent advantages, though. Local control of Matter devices, even without an internet connection, through the Google Home app started rolling out in January. Developers have also gained more access to Google Home APIs, which can lead to even more unique smart home uses from app and product developers. Android’s built-in smart home controls began working with Home Assistant back in 2023, and with the various smart speakers and smart displays on the market that double as a Matter controller with Home Assistant access, it’s becoming easier for power users to run wild with their own version of a smart house.