Andrew O'Hara
On Tuesday, Amazon announced that is rolling out a new Matter update for Alexa that includes support for Thread, setup on iOS, and a new version of its Works with Alexa program.
After launching as Android-only, Amazon is fulfilling its CES promise to support iOS setup for Matter devices. This will enable Matter devices, including those that used to only support Apple Home, to work with Amazon Alexa and Echo speakers.
The Seattle-based company is also touting it has over 100 million Matter-enabled Echo devices on the market. Amazon customers have connected over 300 million smart home devices to Alexa and that will expand with Matter.
Matter on Alexa also will now support Thread, rather than just Wi-Fi. The update includes the second-generation Echo, Echo Plus, and Echo Dot devices as Matter controllers and the Echo (4th generation) as a Thread border router.
To bolster its Matter news, Amazon has announced a new version of its Works with Alexa (WWA) and Frustration-Free Setup (FFS) programs for Matter devices.
These provide consumer confidence that a product will work with Alexa and can simply the setup process.
Eve Systems is one of the first to support these new programs on its Eve Energy, Eve Motion, and Eve Door & Window later this month. These devices supported HomeKit and Matter but didn't work with Alexa due to their Thread-connectivity.
Users can start updating their compatible Echo devices and expanding their smart home now as the firmware updates roll out. The timetable of complete roll-out isn't clear.
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2 Comments
Doesn’t matter(!) how often I read about it, I’m still uncertain of the difference and significance of Matter and Thread support. I know I can read up about it when I need to, but I think the fact it doesn’t sink in easily, just illustrates how this seems like fragmentation or complication, rather than a grand reunification of IoT.
I hope it doesn’t balls up the already fragile HomeKit world.