Amazon confirms its support for Matter

Amazon has confirmed its support for smart home connectivity standard Matter, announcing in a blog post today that it will support Matter over Thread in its Echo devices and Eero Wi-Fi routers. Eero had previously confirmed its support of the standard. Amazon says the announcement is about "further expanding Amazon's commitment to Matter and reinforcing its smart home philosophy of flexibility, privacy, collaboration and interactivity."

Additionally, Amazon joins Apple, Google and Samsung on the board of directors of the Thread Group – a member it has been a member for five years. As with Wi-Fi, a primary protocol for threads matter. It provides low-power, low-bandwidth and low-latency mesh networks for smart home devices to connect to.

The company confirmed that the Echo 4th gen will receive mater on thread support, with support for additional Echo devices coming later. Earlier this summer, Amazon said it would upgrade most of its Echo smart speakers, including most Echo and Echo Dot speakers and every Echo Studio, Echo Show, Echo Plus and Echo Flex, to support the Mater. All Eero Pro, Eero Beacon, Eero Pro 6, and Eero 6 devices have thread radios and act as thread border routers for connecting to already thread devices. They will get Matter Support next year.

Matter is an IP-based application protocol that will establish a common language and common interaction model across smart home devices and ecosystems. With support for Matter over Thread and Wi-Fi in Echo devices, Alexa users will be able to connect any Matter-enabled smart home device to their Echo smart speaker and control them within the Alexa app and with Alexa Voice Control .

For example, Amazon named Eve on a list of companies Matter is working with. Eve, which makes smart home devices like sensors, plugs, switches and lighting, has previously only worked with Apple's HomeKit, but with Matter, its products will be able to connect to Alexa and other smart home ecosystems. Amazon mentions Yale, Waymo, Schlage, Sengld, Netatmo, Nanoleaf, Tuya, Evelink and Leadership as brands that are making thread devices important.

One of Matter's main promises is multi-admin controls. This means you should be able to control any Amazon smart home device using any other meter controller that supports meters. SmartThings, Google and Apple are committed to All Matter, so in theory, you'll be able to use those companies' apps and voice assistants to control your Amazon smart home device, should you want to.

None of the Miter devices are available for purchase as of now, as the standard is still being finalized. But according to the Connectivity Standards Alliance, which oversees Matter, we should start seeing Matter-enabled smart home products from 2022 onwards.