The era of the Matter smart home is upon us, although it’s not been without some initial challenges.
An array of Matter enabled devices, from a range of brands including Nanoleaf, Eve, TP-Link, Wiz, and Aqara, are now available and there’s a large volume of Matter smart home devices slated to hit the market in the coming months, especially as the new smart home standard expands beyond its initial launch categories.
Early adopters have discovered that assimilating Matter smart home devices into their existing ecosystems hasn’t quite been the seamless experience initially touted; despite Matter’s promise of streamlining the smart home landscape, its execution has encountered a few roadblocks thus far.
Nevertheless, glimmers of progress are emerging. If your intent is to seamlessly integrate Matter devices into HomeKit setup – be it Matter over Thread or Matter over Wi-Fi – the good news is that it’s a much smoother path with the Apple Home app and you should be able to get compatible Matter devices up and running in a matter of minutes.
Here’s how to get started with HomeKit and Matter and get those devices synced with your Apple Home…
Matter and Apple HomeKit checklist
We’ll presume you are already an iOS user – whether that be via an iPad or an iPhone – and you’re already running a HomeKit smart home system via the Apple Home app, which in this case becomes the ‘Matter commissioner’.
The next requirement, when it comes to adding Matter devices to your Apple Home, is a Matter controller.
Like a HomeKit Hub, the Matter controller is the central brain for your Matter smart home. And, like a HomeKit Hub, it’s likely to be a device you’ve already got in your home if you’re reading this guide.
The following Apple devices all act as Matter controllers: HomePod (both generations), HomePod Mini and Apple TV 4K (2021 and 2022 models).
If you want to add a Matter over Thread device to your Apple Home, that Matter controller also needs to double up as a Thread border router.
There are currently four options if that’s the case: 2nd-gen HomePod, HomePod Mini, 2021 Apple TV 4K and the 128GB version of the 2022 Apple TV 4K.
Technically, you can add Matter devices to your HomeKit system that have already been setup on different, non-Apple, Matter controllers (such as a Google smart speaker) but that’s another story for another day.
How to add Matter devices to Apple Home
Apple leant a lot of what it had learned from onboarding HomeKit compatible devices to to the Connectivity Standards Alliance – the group running the Matter show.
Therefore, the process will fill very familiar to adding regular HomeKit devices. And, as with that process, you can always just add the devices through the native apps (provided they are Matter enabled) and HomeKit will work its magic in the background to share credentials to the Home app using your iCloud keychain.
If you do want to keep things simple and add Matter devices direct to the Apple Home app, then here’s how:
(Image credit: The Ambient)
- Power on your Matter device.
- Open the Apple Home app.
- Tap the + icon in the top right corner.
- Choose Add Accesory.
- Scan the Matter QR code (or enter the code manually).
- Wait for it to connect.
- Once paired, give your Matter device a name and tap Continue.
- Choose the room you want to add the device to.
All done – you can now create automations and add your Matter smart home devices to groups as you would any other HomeKit device.
View your HomeKit Matter devices
You can keep tabs on all the Matter devices associated with your Apple Home from the settings menu on your iPad or iPhone.
(Image credit: The Ambient)
Simply go to the settings menu on your iOS device, choose General and then tap Matter Accessories.
You can see a list of all your Matter devices and also delete them if you wish.
See also…
How to add Matter devices to Alexa
How to add Matter devices to Google Home
How to add Matter devices to SmartThings
