This week's episode of the Smart Home Insider podcast is all about the smart kitchen, breaking down which devices do and don't need to have connectivity and why there's been a drought on Matter appliances.

In the news this week, we had a rare improvement on pricing. Ecovacs has announced that due to tariff reversals, they were able to drop prices on its vacuums by as much as $400.

DJI has also received its first Matter certification from the CSA. It's for a robotic vacuum with Matter version 1.4.2, which could be the existing Romo P, A, and S models that have already been released.

The Thread Group is testing a new official Thread app. This new app is launching as an early alpha on Android before moving to iOS in the near future.

This app, as it stands, will be able to view your local Thread network and help with diagnostics. It will be useful for those who want to understand their network better, as well as brands who are working on new devices.

Finally, Govee has announced more new smart lights. The brand has a new LED matrix ceiling light that can display animations like clouds moving past, a new set of solar-powered string lights that don't support Matter, and a new portable table lamp.

We wrap the episode by talking about the smart kitchen. Matter supports home appliances, yet to date, we've only heard vague announcements or prototypes being shown.

Your host goes through the big categories in the kitchen that could benefit from Matter and why you may want to upgrade to them when the time comes. Then, we talk about smaller devices from sous vide machines to coffee makers that may or may not benefit from smart connectivity support.

Those interested in sponsoring the show can reach out to us at [email protected]

Keep up with everything Apple in the weekly AppleInsider Podcast. Just say, "Hey, Siri," to your HomePod mini and ask it, and our latest Smart Home Insider episode too. If you want an ad-free main AppleInsider Podcast experience, you can support the AppleInsider podcast by subscribing for $5 per month through Apple's Podcasts app, or via Patreon if you prefer any other podcast player.