Matter is the smart home standard that Apple, Google, Amazon and Samsung agreed to support so that a bulb, lock or thermostat can work with any of their apps without a separate hub or cloud account for each brand. Three years after the first version shipped, it does that job well for the basics and is starting to reach harder categories: the Matter 1.5 specification, published on November 20, 2025, adds cameras for the first time. This explainer covers how Matter actually works, what Thread is and why you keep hearing about border routers, what 1.5 changes, and where Matter still falls short so you can decide what to buy.
What Matter covers, and what it leaves to the brand app
- Matter is an application layer that runs over Wi-Fi, Ethernet and Thread; it defines how devices describe themselves and how controllers talk to them, locally, without a vendor cloud.
- One Matter device can be controlled by several platforms at once (Apple Home, Google Home, Alexa, SmartThings, Home Assistant) through a feature called multi-admin.
- Thread is a low-power mesh radio for battery devices; it needs a border router such as an Apple TV 4K, HomePod mini, Nest Hub or Echo to reach your network.
- Matter 1.5 adds cameras, a unified model for shades, gates and garage doors, soil sensors and richer energy features, but products using it will arrive through 2026.
- Matter covers core control, not every feature. Brand apps stay relevant for firmware updates, advanced settings and anything outside the spec.
The problem Matter solves: one device, every ecosystem
Before Matter, a smart plug that worked with Alexa did not necessarily work with Apple Home, and a device that worked with both usually did so through two different cloud integrations that could break independently. Manufacturers had to build and certify for each platform separately, and buyers had to read the fine print on the box.
Matter began in December 2019 as Project Connected Home over IP, founded by Amazon, Apple, Google and the Zigbee Alliance, which renamed itself the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA). The 1.0 specification shipped on October 4, 2022, and every major platform now includes a Matter controller. A single Matter certification means the device speaks one protocol that all of those platforms understand, and it does so over your local network rather than through the manufacturer's servers.
How Matter works: controllers, fabrics and multi-admin
A few terms make the rest of the standard easier to follow.
- Controller: the software that commands devices. Apple Home on an Apple TV or HomePod, Google Home on a Nest Hub, Alexa on an Echo, SmartThings on a hub, or Home Assistant, which was the first open-source project to be certified.
- Commissioning: adding a device. You scan the Matter QR code with your phone; the phone talks to the device over Bluetooth Low Energy, verifies its certificate against the CSA's chain, and hands it your Wi-Fi or Thread credentials.
- Fabric: the set of devices and controllers that share a security domain. Each platform you add a device to creates its own fabric on that device.
- Multi-admin: a device can belong to several fabrics at once. Once a lock is in Apple Home, you can open the Home app, generate a pairing code and add the same lock to Google Home or Home Assistant. Both platforms then control it directly.
Because all of this happens on the local network, commands work when your internet is down, and latency is typically well under a second. Remote access still goes through whichever platform's hub you use, which is why every ecosystem wants you to own one.
Thread versus Wi-Fi: why Matter needs a border router
Matter itself does not care which radio carries it; it needs an IP network. Two are used in practice:
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| Wi-Fi | Thread | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Mains-powered devices: plugs, bulbs, cameras, appliances | Battery devices: sensors, locks, buttons, radiator valves |
| Power use | High | Very low; coin cells last a year or more |
| Topology | Star, via your router | Self-healing mesh; mains-powered Thread devices relay for others |
| Needs | Nothing extra | A Thread border router on your network |
| Range | Router's coverage | Grows with each mains-powered Thread device |
Thread is based on the same IEEE 802.15.4 radio as Zigbee, but it speaks IPv6 natively, so a Thread device is a real network node. What it cannot do is talk to your Wi-Fi router directly. That job belongs to a Thread border router: a device with both radios that bridges packets between the Thread mesh and your home network. Apple TV 4K, HomePod and HomePod mini, Nest Hub (2nd gen), Nest Wifi Pro, Google TV Streamer, the newer Echo speakers, SmartThings hubs, and Home Assistant with a Thread dongle all qualify.
The mesh is the reason to prefer Thread for small devices. Add a Thread smart plug in a far room and the door sensor beyond it gains a relay; add a second border router and the network gains a second exit. A Wi-Fi sensor, by contrast, has to keep a power-hungry radio associated with your access point, which is why Wi-Fi battery devices are rare and short-lived.
Thread 1.4 and the shared-network promise
The border router model had a design flaw in its first years: each platform created its own Thread network. An Apple TV and a Nest Hub in the same house ran two separate meshes, and a Thread device joined whichever one commissioned it. Devices on different meshes could not relay for each other, and a mixed-brand home ended up with two weak networks instead of one strong one.
Thread 1.4, published by the Thread Group in September 2024, is meant to fix that. Its feature white paper describes standardized credential sharing between border routers, so that a phone or a second platform can securely pull the existing network's credentials and add devices to it rather than starting a new mesh, plus Thread-over-infrastructure links between border routers on the same Ethernet or Wi-Fi network and better diagnostics for troubleshooting.
Adoption is uneven. Apple shipped Thread 1.4 support to Apple TV and HomePod with tvOS 26 in the fall of 2025, while Google, Amazon and Samsung have been testing or staging their updates. The Thread Group requires 1.4 for new border router certifications from January 1, 2026, but that does not retrofit older hardware. For now, credential sharing across brands often still involves a manual step in one app or another, and some mixed homes will keep two meshes into 2026.
What's new in Matter 1.5: cameras, closures, soil sensors and energy
The CSA has settled into two releases a year. Matter 1.4 (November 2024) brought energy devices such as batteries, solar inverters, water heaters, heat pumps and EV chargers, and made routers and access points a device type. The point releases that followed, 1.4.1 in May 2025 with NFC onboarding and multi-device setup and 1.4.2 in August 2025 with security and networking hardening, were incremental.
Matter 1.5, released November 20, 2025, is the biggest change since 1.0:
- Cameras. Live video and audio stream over WebRTC with two-way talk. Access works locally and remotely using STUN and TURN, with support for multiple streams at different resolutions, pan-tilt-zoom, detection and privacy zones, and either continuous or event-based recording to local or cloud storage. This is the first time a camera has been able to appear natively in every Matter platform without a brand integration.
- Closures. A single, modular model for window shades, drapes, awnings, gates and garage doors that describes the kind of motion a device makes instead of forcing everything into "window covering."
- Soil sensors. Moisture and optional temperature readings for plants, gardens and lawns, designed to pair with Matter water valves for irrigation automations.
- Energy. An electrical energy tariff device type that carries pricing and carbon-intensity data, enhanced smart metering with tariff handling and historical consumption, grid connection details and power limits, EV state-of-charge reporting and bi-directional charging.
- TCP transport. Full support for Matter over TCP, which matters for cameras and firmware downloads that move large amounts of data.
MacRumors notes that camera support is the headline for Apple Home users, since HomeKit Secure Video has been the only native camera path in that ecosystem. Keep in mind that a specification release is the starting gun: platform updates, chip vendor SDKs and product certification follow, so the first Matter cameras and closures should be expected during 2026 rather than in time for the holidays.
What Matter still doesn't do (and where brand apps stay relevant)
Matter defines a common set of clusters, and only those. In practice that means:
- Feature gaps. Robot vacuums are in Matter since 1.2, but map editing, no-go zones and mode selection stay in the vendor app. Thermostats expose setpoints and modes, not schedules or learning features. Lights expose color and brightness, not effects.
- Firmware updates. Matter supports over-the-air updates in principle, but most manufacturers still deliver them through their own app.
- Bridges, not conversions. Zigbee and Z-Wave devices reach Matter only through a bridge such as a Hue Bridge, an Aqara hub or SmartThings. The devices themselves are unchanged.
- Automations live in the platform. Matter moves commands; scenes and automations are built in Apple Home, Google Home or Home Assistant, and they do not sync between platforms.
- Cameras and closures are new. Until products certify, those categories still work the old way.
None of this is a reason to avoid Matter. It is a reason to keep the brand app installed for setup and updates, and to check which features you rely on before assuming Matter exposes them.
How to tell if a product is really Matter-certified
Look for three things:
- The Matter logo on the box or listing. The CSA licenses the mark only to certified products; "works with Alexa" or "Google-compatible" badges are not the same thing.
- A Matter QR code and 11-digit setup code on the device or in the box. Every certified device ships with one.
- The transport. Listings should say "Matter over Wi-Fi" or "Matter over Thread." Thread devices need a border router (see above). If a listing says only "Matter compatible," check whether that means native support or support through a separate bridge or hub that you also need to buy.
Buying from the CSA's public certified-products database, or from the Matter sections of the Apple, Google and Amazon stores, avoids most surprises.
Should you buy Matter devices today?
Yes, for the categories where Matter is mature: lights, plugs, switches, sensors, locks, thermostats, shades and, increasingly, appliances. A Matter device is the safest purchase if you might change platforms later, want local control, or share a home with someone who uses a different phone.
Be more careful with cameras, garage doors and energy hardware. Matter 1.5 defines them, but shipping products are months away, and early firmware in a new category tends to be rough. If you need one now, buy for the platform you use and accept the brand integration.
Finally, plan your Thread network. Pick one primary border router platform, add a second border router at the other end of the home, and hold off on mixing brands until Thread 1.4 credential sharing arrives on all of yours. If you are building on Home Assistant, our Home Assistant Green setup guide walks through adding a Thread radio and commissioning Matter devices from your phone.
Matter is a local, cross-platform control layer that already works well for the everyday smart home, and Thread is the low-power radio that makes battery devices practical on it. Matter 1.5 extends the standard to cameras, closures, soil sensors and richer energy data, but products will trail the specification into 2026. Buy Matter for the basics now, keep the brand app for the extras, and give your Thread devices a border router or two.
Sources and further reading
- Matter 1.5 Introduces Cameras, Closures, and Enhanced Energy Management (CSA)csa-iot.org
- Matter 1.4.2: Enhancing Security and Scalability (CSA)csa-iot.org
- Build With Matter (CSA)csa-iot.org
- Matter (standard) version history (Wikipedia)en.wikipedia.org
- Matter 1.5 Launches With Camera Support (MacRumors)macrumors.com
- Thread 1.4 Features White Paper (Thread Group)threadgroup.org
- Thread 1.4 slow rollout leaves smart homes fragmented (Bitdefender)bitdefender.com
- Home Assistant officially Matters (Home Assistant blog)home-assistant.io
- Matter integration (Home Assistant docs)home-assistant.io