Matter is an Internet Protocol (IP) based open source communication standard designed to make smart home devices more secure, reliable and seamless to use. Matter will be adopted by most major IoT hardware vendors as well as virtually every software vendor supporting IoT devices.

Today, the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA Connectivity Standards Alliance, formerly the Zigbee Alliance) announced the official release of the Matter 1.0 standard along with the opening of product certification, which allows companies that manufacture smart home products to Matter standards to complete product certification before selling products to the public. This is the last remaining step before Matter is truly consumer-facing.

CSA explained:

More than just a specification, the Matter 1.0 standard provides Alliance members with test cases and comprehensive testing tools, as well as a global certification program (including 8 authorized test labs) that can test not only Matter, but Matter’s Fundamental networking technologies – Wi-Fi and Thread.

Wi-Fi enables Matter devices to interact over high-bandwidth local networks and enables smart home devices to communicate with the cloud. Thread provides an energy efficient and highly reliable mesh network in the home. Both the Wi-Fi Alliance and the Thread Group work with the Connectivity Standards Alliance to help realize Matter’s full vision.

Not only does this allow companies to release new Matter-certified products, it also means that these companies can update their existing products to support the Matter standard.

As for when smart home products that support the Matter standard will actually be available to consumers, there is still no definite timetable. But companies like Apple, Amazon and Google have all said they will update their products to support Matter.

Matter 1.0 will support a wide variety of smart home devices, including lighting, HVAC, sensors, door locks, media devices including TV speakers, and various home appliances. Devices will be connected using a mix of Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Thread and Bluetooth Low Energy.

More than 280 companies are currently members of Matter, including well-known names such as Apple, Amazon, Huawei, Samsung, IKEA, and Google. First announced in 2019 with a target release date of 2020, the Matter standard (originally branded as CHiP) is finally being released after a two-year delay.

The official release of the Matter standard also means that accessory manufacturers no longer need to develop corresponding products for smart home platforms such as HomeKit, Alexa, and Google Home. Now, as long as the Matter standard is adopted, cross-platform support is automatically obtained.