We're excited about Matter, the new system for smart home interoperability – so we're delighted by the news that Samsung is one of the first tech firms to embrace it. Samsung is bringing Matter compatibility to SmartThings, both in its app and in its hubs. The latter will be via an over-the-air update that'll add Matter support to existing hardware.
This is a really big deal because of course, Samsung is massive. Having Matter work on Samsung phones, Samsung TVs, Samsung smartwatches and no doubt Samsung internet fridges too makes the tech available to a huge global audience.
Why Samsung's Matter upgrade matters
According to the very long job titled Jaeyeon Jung, Corporate Vice President and Head of SmartThings, Mobile eXperience Business at Samsung Electronics, "Matter is the future, giving consumers extensive choice and smart device compatibility at scale. Today marks the most significant milestone yet toward mass smart home adoption."
Samsung may be early to the Matter party, but it'll soon be joined by other big names: Apple is starting to add Matter to devices such as its most expensive new Apple TV, and Matter-certified products are coming from the likes of Google, Nanoleaf, Yale and more. It's also coming to IKEA's brand new smart home hubs in an imminent update.
That means Samsung isn't kidding when it says this is a big step for smart home tech: if Matter delivers on its promises, our homes are going to get a whole lot smarter and a whole lot easier to set up and interact with too.
