Very interesting. It cant come soon enough! Very, VERY disappointing... and SHAME on certain companies who see Matter support as a way to force existing users to upgrade products where technically there should be no reason for them not to work with Matter with a little software tweak. Personally I moved to a HomeKit home.. and still have some Echo devices because of routines that control my NEST thermostat and my AMAZON RING Doorbell, Cameras, and Alarm system. Both Google and Amazon are very much on board with Matter...... I REALLY hope that Google updates the nest thermostat and Amazon updates the cameras and Ring products and doesnt use this as an excuse to force users to buy new. This is NOT eco friendly is it forcing perfectly functional tech into landfill for no reason. This should have been a cornerstone of the member companies to ensure that were physically possible.. if they were able to support matter technically... then they should unquestionably have their software updated. Companies should be penalised for not upgrading software and therefore forcing consumers to replace kit. This attitude WILL backfire on greedy companies. If, for example, Google Nest decide that they are not going to update the learning thermostat and make you buy a new one so that I can use it in HomeKit... I will simply get rid of it and replace it with someone else's product that does support Matter and HomeKit.... your choice Google! Ring (amazon) have been announcing for YEARS that their doorbells would be HomeKit compatible... and yet they just go quiet on the subject when asked. The last time they promised this was at least 3 years ago yet never actually ended up honouring that promise - lets hope that matter is the key and they will support it with legacy devices.
Back in the early 2000's, I used to install "smart home integration systems" (X-10, Ademco, Honeywell etc), in houses and some offices and commercial businesses. A majority of it was hard wired with a cellular or internet type of interface. A majority of it worked flawlessly and seamlessly once it was hooked up properly and the owner knew how to operate the systems. As the wireless components started rolling out it started to get a bit more complicated and lagy, but eventually that was cleared up. However as we have seen more recently, say the last ten years or so, with countless companies coming to market with their own proprietary products and technology, it does seem to be hit or miss. Especially when you consider that a lot of these can actually be hacked into.
There are so many tech channels on YT as we know but you are one of my favourites, Craig - I love how you explain things and I've learned a lot about tech since being subscribed to you. I love how ahead of the game you are - you were the first person I learned that the new Echos were going to have mesh for example (yet to arrive here in the UK though, sadly!) but nonetheless, I just wanted to give credit where due. Have a great Christmas with your family and I'm looking forward to seeing what you bring us in 2023! 🎄🎄🎄
Hello Becca, thank you very much. This one of the nicest comments I have ever received. I am glad to have been able to help with your tech. I appreciate you watching the videos and helping me have a place where I can share my own excitement for tech. I hope you have a great Christmas with your family too. Thank you. Maybe in 2023 Amazon will show you all in the UK some more love. Have a great day.
Sorry to bother you Craig, quick question though. I have a zigbee hub through several Alexa devices. I want to get into Aqara systems. Do I need an Aqara hub such as the M2 in addition to my Zigbee hubs? Thanks for your time..
Looking at upgrading everything so it was Apple HomeKit compatible, but with the announcement of matter would you recommend I wait to see if the products I already have will become compatible?
Smart Home newbie here as well as a new subscriber. Will it be necessary still to have hubs for other companies products if apple products i.e. homepod mini and apple tv both have thread accessibility enabled?
That is a scam and I reported it. I had 8 comments like that. I don’t have Telegram either. Sorry your comment got that reply. Glad you didn’t have Telegram.
Thank you also Keith for subscribing. To answer your question, you will still need hubs for other products. For example Philips Hue, Lutron, Aqara and a bunch of others use Hubs. Those hub devices respond the best of all of them other than the Thread devices.
I’m pretty invested in Amazon’s system at this point. I have Echos in every room with smart plugs and bulbs. I’m concerned about the stories I’m seeing about Amazon losing piles of money on Alexa products and having big layoffs. I’m hoping the ecosystem is still viable a year or two from now.
Yeah it's definitely getting worse. I've had three echoes act up and one still won't connect. Which is why I'm watching this video....I'm about to jump ship.
There is a hub that works with HomeKit and nest called starling. www.starlinghome.io/ I don’t see Matter coming to existing nest products to work with HomeKit. New devices, will have Matter
From the start I knew I wanted a home with devices that were HomeKit certified. I have several smart plugs that in purchased in 2016. For some reason Alexa stopped controlling them. Then I noticed the manufacturers app was complete down. The manufacturer shut down their servers. Thank god these were HomeKit certified. I can still use them with Apple HomeKit. I am still able to add them to the home app. If they weren't home kit compatible, they would have ended in the garbage now.
So.. you still need a Philips hub, a Yeelight hub and an Ikea hub just to get all your smart lights working. The only difference that Matter makes is that you can use any (Google, Siri, Alexa) assistent of your choice to use the hubs with. You also need all the apps for the hubs, connect them to the lights and then connect them to Google, Siri or Alexa. Did i get that right?
I have a new Echo Show 8 2nd gen. I can start, skip or stop songs by asking Alexa but not by tapping the onscreen play pause next buttons. Any help would be appreciated.
What about Lutron? I wonder once they support matter you won’t need their hub anymore or will still have to connect the hub to a matter supporting router? I’m still a little confused on how these will be supported. Ideas?
Great video Craig. I also am a big Amazon guy. I have the original echo, dot with clock, and just got the echo show 8 second generation. Love them all and have no problem using them to control all my Phillips hue lights and hub. Also leaning towards getting two outdoor ring cameras. Matter doesn’t matter to me. I’m happy with what I have.
Hey Craig thanks for the video- had a question…. What options do you know of for a smart side gate latch? I’m wanting my side yard to be more secure. Thx and keep up the great work. !!
Alexa has always been a dead loss, I had no idea voice assistance could be anything other than terrible! Until I started using Siri. Siri is superior, Alexa is kind of trash really.
Good decision! I bought my parents an AppleTV 4K, some controllers and a keyboard (along with Apple One). They've already set it up lol we watch stuff daily :) Best thing ever, Apple products. IF YOU CAN SWALLOW THE COST THAT IS 🤣
Great video thank you! Is there an existing lock right now that can pair directly with the ring alarm for arm and disarm, but also work with HomeKit for Apple Watch as key integration?
None of the locks will connect directly to Ring. The best you are going to get is writing a routine that locks or unlocks the door when you arm or disarm
@@CraigsTechTalk I currently have a kwikset that’s directly tied to my ring base station. It’s worked well for over a year now auto disarming the alarm. I have the auto arm feature disabled but it is available, but I’d love to have it cross over into HomeKit and or smartthings/Hubitat if there was an option for multi platform support. To my understanding all locks only work with a single “hub” and everything else is shared on the back end correct?
my issue is the amount of hubs... i have a hub for yale smart home alarm, a hub for my hue lights, then the amazon stuff...i did look a smart switch but that needed a separate hub --- so my question is... with this new Matter - will i be able to use just one hub and have everything work through that or will i still need all these different hubs???
Almost bought the Nanoleaf Essentials smart bulbs at half price, but my LIFX bulbs were quick enough already. What made it even more confusing is it seems only LIFX offers the ability to change the light’s brightness without having to turn it on. My wife wanted to sleep earlier as she wasn’t feeling well, so turned off the light. In the HomeKit Home app, I usually lower the brightness down but it basically turned the light back on, which wasn’t ideal. So now for that scheduled automation, I use the LIFX app just for that. It’s a shame it seems like such a useful feature - being able to change the bulb’s settings while retaining its on/off state. I wish this is something that could be more broadly adopted. Matter seemed like a good opportunity.
It should be but when I saw the mistake the videos views exploded. As a content creator if a video performs well don’t touch it. What if subconsciously the typo catches people’s eye and helped lead to click. Who knows? I have been waiting for the views to slow down to correct it.
When nest cameras first came out I jumped onboard and have been happy with them but I would like to consolidate down from three control devices to just one. I am getting older and it is more and more of a pain in my behind to keep track of what controls what. I am wanting to make the jump to Apple home kit but I want to keep my nest cameras. Do you have any suggestions on how I can simply do this. I have a Google hub, and Alexa, apple TV and Firestick 4k max in every room. Firestick 4k max I am so over it.. I have added external storage for it but daily I get messages saying it it out of memory . I have been holding out on that just because I am so used to the layout and my spouse is used to it and they are completely anything but tech friendly.
I’m a loyal apple user but only now have my first HomePod mini so I’m still learning how it all works. I’d love to get some security cameras and light bulbs. I do have the enabot ebo pet interactive robot camera but I guess the sky is the limits except for your budget of course 😅
I have Aqara throughout my home and am VERY satisfied with it's integration with homekit (Thanks Hoobs). Am excited to see they will integrate with Matter! As always, nice video, much information!
Great review on the state of the state for Matter, Craig. Aqara seems like a fantastic quick and widespread upgrade to Matter, especially since (as I understand it) the other hubs will quickly upgrade to Matter as well (I’d guess right around CES as that seems like an opportunistic time to announce it). CES also sounds like the time when Eve will likely announce Matter compliance upgrades for most of their devices, especially since all of their sold devices are now thread based (they stopped selling a few devices that are not thread based). Given their extensive history and product support with thread, they are another great company to watch for Matter compatibility early in 2023 (and no, I don’t work for or benefit in any way from Eve, though I have enough of their devices to be considered an invested!).
Great video! Question: I’m totally into the Apple ecosystem but I’m often anoyed by Siri‘s and Homepods restrictions. During Blackweek, I purchased an Echo Dot but I‘m still concerned about data security. Amazons Alexa is known for it listening in, that’s why it is so much smarter than Siri. Do you think that the Alexa is becoming safer to use because of the matter implementation? I would love to keep the majority of my smarthome Apple based but I would like to manage it all with an Echo Dot. Is that realistic?
Knowing Amazon, I have zero faith in their ability to view customer data as anything other than a product. I’d love to be wrong on this one day, as Alexa is fantastic. Once my kids started seeing adds on their devices based solely on conversations we had in the house, I ditched all of our Amazon devices the next day.
@Dr. Cole Honestly, I was living over seas and thought about purchasing a specific item...didn't say it, write about it, anything. And online shopping wasn't an option where in the world I was living. And I started seeing ads for the item I decided on, like everywhere. My point is, there may not be a connection between your conversations and the ads you're seeing. If anything, I'd say it's more likely your phones and tablets are listening to you.
Alexa is software bud, it's going to be a push update to the app not a hardware change. Unlike Siri which does use specific hardware features, Alexa requires a mic a speaker and a wifi connection only. The trade-off though, is that Siri is superior in practically every way.
I’m really curious about the security for these devices. How will matter devices lock down, so we can block devices we don’t want from connecting and controlling these devices?
If you have just 1 ecosystem & all the devices work then you don't need to replace anything but yes as you say if you are looking to get a new device in the next month it's better to wait for matter devices ae we will have way more choice if devices.
Just learned today that I have 50 devices connected through my WiFi router! My smart home is based In Amazon ecosystem; generally functions well (crying in my beer…I love Big Brother). Big fan of the YoLink range of products - Long Range / Long-lasting batteries / novel capabilities (leak detection and water main shut off) /Device2Device connectivity/ Alexa compatible
I actually have no idea what my next smart home purchase will be. I think I’ve done as much as I can do in this house and need to wait until I find my next house to figure out what I need next. A bigger tv, definitely, but I’m not sure that quite counts. At the new house I definitely want window coverings automated. And I know I want outdoor string lights and an Eve Aqua. And Christmas decorations as Shane has inspired me with his beautiful setup! After that I think the thing I’m probably going to stock up on is motion sensors. That will make the biggest difference to my setup, especially as the next house needs to be guest friendly.
Almost bought that Smart Lock because they said it was getting matter. So glad I just went with a Phillips one even though it doesn't have much integration. Hopefully they will be a better wireless standard that uses less energy than Wi-Fi but can still connect to the Smart Home
I think Google and Amazon cover the information side of an assistant better. Both have better 3rd party integration. I find google is the most natural and best for information. Next would be Alexa, followed by Siri. As I understand it, Google and Amazon have consolidated user data more so than Siri. Also Google and Alexa have more features outside of the smart home. But Siri OS integration and home control is better in my opinion.
I just upgraded to a google nest hub and come to find that there is a problem with the timer/sleep timer function that google is aware of but seems to be doing nothing about. The sole reason I bought this device is so I can listen to something as I’m going to sleep and have it turn off after a few hrs my previous google device was getting old and I decided to upgrade to this one big mistake no timer so I tried to re install the old device but the sleep timer no longer works on that either When we investigated we found this is a known problem and people have been having issues for a number of years and they don’t seem to be doing anything about it so to me I feel like I have been ripped off and I am not happy. Not much point in investing in a smart home device if it can’t do a simple thing like turn things on or off at certain times just an expensive paper weight.
THANK YOU SO MUCH 🙏. WAS ABOUT TO BUY LIGHT SWITCHES WITH ALEXA. SCRATCH THAT. IVE DECIDED TO PUT SIRI HOMEPODS IN EACH ROOM ON A CUTE LITTLE SHELF AND HAVE AN OUTLET WITH ALL LIGHT SWITCHES WHERE THEY WILL GO.
I thought the smart home was going to be great but it's way more of a pain to get everything working than it's worth. I use Alexa and maybe that's the problem.
I thought it would be a pain but it was a smooth sail using Google home. There are things I still don't get but I can get basic automation done. Mainly smart switches that control lights.
I have tried all 3 main systems: Google, Alexa, and HomeKit. In my opinion, It comes down to this. Alexa requires maintenance. It is cheaper, harder to get working, but there are so many options (typically not as secure). Google is great for both beginners and people who wanna take things to the extreme. Some maintenance required, and there is a lag between command and action because it runs through the cloud. HomeKit , in apple fashion is great if you are in the walled garden. It is going to be expensive, but it will be set it and forget it. It is also very responsive since it runs on the local network, you just will not have “all of the options”.
I'm new to the smart home thing and , upon researching it , I ended up getting a Google Nest mini. The reason for this is simple, it works with all my Wi-Fi enabled devices , where as Amazon and Apple do not. I have five Wi-Fi plugs, 5 Wi-Fi light bulbs and a Wi-Fi thermostat. None of which work with Apple Home Kit (my preference since I have an iPhone). The Mini cost $35 , so not a huge expenditure and I'm having a blast playing with it ..... UM! .. Ahem .... I mean using it for practical purposes. 🙂 I will , in future, add devices that are cross compatible ( # Matter) but I couldn't see wasting my money (and existing devices) on buying new devices when what I have works great. So far Google is the eco system with the most compatibility amongst existing/old manufacturers.
I just find it strange all these companies have decided to work together now, when they could have all been making compatible stuff for years and years. Zigbee isn't new and thread isn't a lot different (not being too technical I don't understand that stuff but it doesn't seem a lot different). It seemed to me Philips always went out of its way to keep its things limited to it, same for Apple. So what has changed to suddenly make them all want to work together? Could it be they want you to go out and buy a load of new stuff for the things that won't get updates?.......
Right now I use TUYA Smart app and it supports so many devices that are out. I use that app instead of the manufacturer's app no matter who the manufacturer is and it works with Tuya and thus with Amazon and Google. I believe TUYA is going to support Matter. I have motion sensors, bulbs and switches that I installed all using TUYA and because I have the TUYA skill enabled in Amazon and with Google those smart speakers automatically discover the devices. If this is what Matter is going to be like I say bring it on.
Hey Nikki, Happy Holidays. Thanks for sharing your experience with Tuya. What you are getting in Tuya is supposed to be that reality of Matter. I am excited to see it all get that easy and be able to pick your app of your choice to manage your home.
Next step here, i’m waiting for my pre order of the new Homey pro 2023 by Athom. Already using a Homey pro 2018 as the main brain of the house and it’s really worth looking into this if you are about to invest in smart home. All so really worth a review maybe?
I don't have an intricate smart home. I have some Google assistant devices. Some smart outlets, smart bulbs and google based TV's. I also have some third party cameras that are supposed to work with Google assistant. Everything I use works properly except for the cameras. I guess I'm cool with that
I think the whole point in Matter is that you do not require a central hub, as the devices connect to each other via P2P connections. This means the devices themselves allocate bandwidth and handshakes without reliance upon a hub. So you could add any Matter certificed devices to any Matter supported network, and your phone acts as a hub when you need to fiddle settings. Fairly sure that's the entire point of it. Thread networks work in a similar way but requires specific hardware in each device.
i love videos like this. the last few weeks i've seen a lot of them warning of alexa going away. i have a lot of alexa devices and am concerned all the money spent is for nothing - again my wife is right. i have many things i would like to do, but it appears now is the time to stop all purchases until things shake out
Are the Alexa going away warnings because Amazon are losing money on those products and laying people off? Watch the recent video by Automate Your Life about it. I don’t think Alexa is going anywhere. I won’t have her in my house, but she’s here to stay. She’s a loss leader. A marketing strategy that’s been around for decades, just done a bit differently now with online shopping. We did it in the furniture store I worked in 20 years ago. We would advertise a tv unit at a bargain price. We were losing money every time we sold one at that price. But it got people in the door and then it was our job to sell them a better, more expensive tv unit, or some add ons to cover the loss. 9 times out of 10 we covered the loss and then some. More than enough to make up for the bit we lost when that one other person only wanted the cheap one.
The next thing I want to do is make a smart home dashboard on an extra tablet I have, since now it really looks like we're not going to get one from Amazon on the Show 15. So, I'm thinking of moving into Smartthings and Sharp Tools. As for other devices, I'm looking as mostly Zigbee since with Wifi, we might lose those manufacturer apps at some point that allow integration with voice assistants due to Matter taking over. It seems to me like it will be too long to wait for equivalent Thread devices.
I wanted to use homekit but the main language in my house is Spanish and when I started (a couple of months ago) siri was not bilingual. In our home we are all iphone users and funny enough all of our settings are in english but still, our main language is spanish, I leave in Puerto Rico btw. On the other hand, Alexa you can put it bilingual and use Spanish or English language. One thing I am doing is building everything with compatibility with all assistants in case siri add multiple languages in the future.
One of the biggest hurdles and changes matter is going to bring is the camera and security circuit. They haven't mentioned how they are going to do it yet but its going to be really interesting and tricky to see how they make cameras (especially ones that require subscriptions to view like Nest) into the fold. Smart plugs and lights are getting easy to find without the need for Matter. Doorbells and security systems? We'll have to keep our finger on the pulse with those.
Yeah the whole security and camera side is a big question mark. Who know if they end up delayed with a matter camera certification. It could be a year or two before we see a certification. Hopefully not.
What is quite a disappointment: missing native NFC support + in Europe the echo button ist not available. Other smart buttons like HUE and IKEA are not supported within Alexa (e.g. to trigger Routines) …. hope, that at least the later will be fixed, once Matter is fully supported.
You are so right about the NFC. NFC is such a great tool. I love using tags with Apple shortcuts. I wish Alexa recognized them. The button side has been pretty weak.
Meanwhile, at a bar near Craig's house: "You look like you could use some cheering up. What's the Matter, friend?" Craig: "Just cameras, home appliances, robot vacuums, and advanced energy management categories, so far."
I initially bought a few Phillip hue devices but can’t support them anymore with the high prices they charge. I’m excited for matter to break down the ecosystems. I’m heavy into google home products but have an iPhone. Not ideal.
The idea of purchasing all new items just for Matter support is NOT gonna work for me. Nanoleaf bulbs are exhibit A. They’re delusional to think I’m buying all new bulbs. Yet alone bigger products like my air purifiers, etc. Was so excited, yet so quickly disappointed in the Matter announcement 😩😩
The only thing that I would point out why you'd eventually want the homepod mini is that Apple is changing how the ipad will work as a home hub in the new os 16 release. You can still use it to control existing products but you will not receive updates for new features coming in 16 release. There's an article covering this on the web.
Kind of daft to have your entire SmartHome controlled by a device that isn't a part of it. I mean don't lose your phone!! Lol you will be locked out your house. If you want your SmartHome to actually BE smart, YOU have to be a smart user of it. 👍
ALEXA: "I'm sorry, I don't understand this video! ... Please take a look at the help section in the Alexa app!" ME: "Alexa, £u(k off!" ALEXA: [ turns off her light ring in disgust! ]
No it does not work as a hub. I wasn’t mentioning it as a hub. Any one can setup HomeKit using an iPad instead of an iPhone. You can still use an iPad as a hub if you don’t upgrade to iOS16. Other than that for iOS 16 it’s just the HomePod and Apple TV for hub. But I love that you can setup and manage it from an iPad only. Thanks for watching.
![30 ชั่วโมงคนเดียว บนรถไฟชั้น 3 โซเวียต [Around The World Ep. 2]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/MlE9boAVqDA/mqdefault.jpg)
Very interesting.
It cant come soon enough!
Very, VERY disappointing... and SHAME on certain companies who see Matter support as a way to force existing users to upgrade products where technically there should be no reason for them not to work with Matter with a little software tweak.
Personally I moved to a HomeKit home.. and still have some Echo devices because of routines that control my NEST thermostat and my AMAZON RING Doorbell, Cameras, and Alarm system. Both Google and Amazon are very much on board with Matter......
I REALLY hope that Google updates the nest thermostat and Amazon updates the cameras and Ring products and doesnt use this as an excuse to force users to buy new. This is NOT eco friendly is it forcing perfectly functional tech into landfill for no reason. This should have been a cornerstone of the member companies to ensure that were physically possible.. if they were able to support matter technically... then they should unquestionably have their software updated. Companies should be penalised for not upgrading software and therefore forcing consumers to replace kit.
This attitude WILL backfire on greedy companies. If, for example, Google Nest decide that they are not going to update the learning thermostat and make you buy a new one so that I can use it in HomeKit... I will simply get rid of it and replace it with someone else's product that does support Matter and HomeKit.... your choice Google!
Ring (amazon) have been announcing for YEARS that their doorbells would be HomeKit compatible... and yet they just go quiet on the subject when asked. The last time they promised this was at least 3 years ago yet never actually ended up honouring that promise - lets hope that matter is the key and they will support it with legacy devices.
Back in the early 2000's, I used to install "smart home integration systems" (X-10, Ademco, Honeywell etc), in houses and some offices and commercial businesses. A majority of it was hard wired with a cellular or internet type of interface. A majority of it worked flawlessly and seamlessly once it was hooked up properly and the owner knew how to operate the systems. As the wireless components started rolling out it started to get a bit more complicated and lagy, but eventually that was cleared up. However as we have seen more recently, say the last ten years or so, with countless companies coming to market with their own proprietary products and technology, it does seem to be hit or miss. Especially when you consider that a lot of these can actually be hacked into.
There are so many tech channels on YT as we know but you are one of my favourites, Craig - I love how you explain things and I've learned a lot about tech since being subscribed to you. I love how ahead of the game you are - you were the first person I learned that the new Echos were going to have mesh for example (yet to arrive here in the UK though, sadly!) but nonetheless, I just wanted to give credit where due. Have a great Christmas with your family and I'm looking forward to seeing what you bring us in 2023! 🎄🎄🎄
Hello Becca, thank you very much. This one of the nicest comments I have ever received. I am glad to have been able to help with your tech. I appreciate you watching the videos and helping me have a place where I can share my own excitement for tech. I hope you have a great Christmas with your family too. Thank you. Maybe in 2023 Amazon will show you all in the UK some more love. Have a great day.
Sorry to bother you Craig, quick question though. I have a zigbee hub through several Alexa devices. I want to get into Aqara systems. Do I need an Aqara hub such as the M2 in addition to my Zigbee hubs? Thanks for your time..
Looking at upgrading everything so it was Apple HomeKit compatible, but with the announcement of matter would you recommend I wait to see if the products I already have will become compatible?
I just bought the new ikea bridge. It’s awesome.
It supports Zigbee, matter and thread.
Every single device is now connected to Apple home
Smart Home newbie here as well as a new subscriber. Will it be necessary still to have hubs for other companies products if apple products i.e. homepod mini and apple tv both have thread accessibility enabled?
Recieved a message that I won your random drawing. I do not have telegram. Is there another way to contact you to claim the prize.
That is a scam and I reported it. I had 8 comments like that. I don’t have Telegram either. Sorry your comment got that reply. Glad you didn’t have Telegram.
Thank you also Keith for subscribing. To answer your question, you will still need hubs for other products. For example Philips Hue, Lutron, Aqara and a bunch of others use Hubs. Those hub devices respond the best of all of them other than the Thread devices.
I think Matter doesn't require a central bridge or hub. Instead, it allows devices to talk directly to each other - either over Wi-Fi or Thread
I’m pretty invested in Amazon’s system at this point. I have Echos in every room with smart plugs and bulbs. I’m concerned about the stories I’m seeing about Amazon losing piles of money on Alexa products and having big layoffs. I’m hoping the ecosystem is still viable a year or two from now.
I feel you, i'm in the same situation being really afraid of having a bunch of useless stuff in my apartment in the future.
I don’t see what they have going away. But I can see product and feature development slow down.
Yeah it's definitely getting worse. I've had three echoes act up and one still won't connect. Which is why I'm watching this video....I'm about to jump ship.
Note to self, never trust big tech, especially Amazon
This is why I subscribe - because I learned about "Matter" just yesterday from you!. Thank you for the explanation & posting this.
That is so nice to hear. I am glad that I could help introduce Matter. Thank you for subscribing and sticking around.
I just want to setup my nest products with HomeKit . When will i be able to do this?
There is a hub that works with HomeKit and nest called starling. www.starlinghome.io/ I don’t see Matter coming to existing nest products to work with HomeKit. New devices, will have Matter
From the start I knew I wanted a home with devices that were HomeKit certified. I have several smart plugs that in purchased in 2016. For some reason Alexa stopped controlling them. Then I noticed the manufacturers app was complete down. The manufacturer shut down their servers. Thank god these were HomeKit certified. I can still use them with Apple HomeKit. I am still able to add them to the home app. If they weren't home kit compatible, they would have ended in the garbage now.
So.. you still need a Philips hub, a Yeelight hub and an Ikea hub just to get all your smart lights working. The only difference that Matter makes is that you can use any (Google, Siri, Alexa) assistent of your choice to use the hubs with. You also need all the apps for the hubs, connect them to the lights and then connect them to Google, Siri or Alexa. Did i get that right?
I have a new Echo Show 8 2nd gen. I can start, skip or stop songs by asking Alexa but not by tapping the onscreen play pause next buttons. Any help would be appreciated.
What about Lutron? I wonder once they support matter you won’t need their hub anymore or will still have to connect the hub to a matter supporting router? I’m still a little confused on how these will be supported. Ideas?
Great video Craig. I also am a big Amazon guy. I have the original echo, dot with clock, and just got the echo show 8 second generation. Love them all and have no problem using them to control all my Phillips hue lights and hub. Also leaning towards getting two outdoor ring cameras. Matter doesn’t matter to me. I’m happy with what I have.
I also use apple phone and iPad
Hey Craig thanks for the video- had a question…. What options do you know of for a smart side gate latch? I’m wanting my side yard to be more secure. Thx and keep up the great work. !!
What is your opinion of the ninth generation iPad for the casual user? Would you recommend an upgrade to perhaps the 10th generation or iPad Air?
Do smart watches fall under the Matter umbrella? Or will they? Hoping apple opens up their products so they’re compatible across android devices
THANKS !!! Is this the reason why suddenly my playlist in Apple Music does not work with Alexa!???
Does anything work with Alexa anymore?
Alexa has always been a dead loss, I had no idea voice assistance could be anything other than terrible!
Until I started using Siri. Siri is superior, Alexa is kind of trash really.
I’m getting the Apple Watch ultra for Christmas 😁👍
Good decision!
I bought my parents an AppleTV 4K, some controllers and a keyboard (along with Apple One).
They've already set it up lol we watch stuff daily :) Best thing ever, Apple products.
IF YOU CAN SWALLOW THE COST THAT IS 🤣
Great video thank you! Is there an existing lock right now that can pair directly with the ring alarm for arm and disarm, but also work with HomeKit for Apple Watch as key integration?
None of the locks will connect directly to Ring. The best you are going to get is writing a routine that locks or unlocks the door when you arm or disarm
@@CraigsTechTalk I currently have a kwikset that’s directly tied to my ring base station. It’s worked well for over a year now auto disarming the alarm. I have the auto arm feature disabled but it is available, but I’d love to have it cross over into HomeKit and or smartthings/Hubitat if there was an option for multi platform support. To my understanding all locks only work with a single “hub” and everything else is shared on the back end correct?
my issue is the amount of hubs... i have a hub for yale smart home alarm, a hub for my hue lights, then the amazon stuff...i did look a smart switch but that needed a separate hub --- so my question is... with this new Matter - will i be able to use just one hub and have everything work through that or will i still need all these different hubs???
Almost bought the Nanoleaf Essentials smart bulbs at half price, but my LIFX bulbs were quick enough already. What made it even more confusing is it seems only LIFX offers the ability to change the light’s brightness without having to turn it on. My wife wanted to sleep earlier as she wasn’t feeling well, so turned off the light. In the HomeKit Home app, I usually lower the brightness down but it basically turned the light back on, which wasn’t ideal. So now for that scheduled automation, I use the LIFX app just for that. It’s a shame it seems like such a useful feature - being able to change the bulb’s settings while retaining its on/off state. I wish this is something that could be more broadly adopted. Matter seemed like a good opportunity.
Is the title of the video misspelled? I might be wrong, but it seems like it should be "IS" and not "IN".
It should be but when I saw the mistake the videos views exploded. As a content creator if a video performs well don’t touch it. What if subconsciously the typo catches people’s eye and helped lead to click. Who knows? I have been waiting for the views to slow down to correct it.
@@CraigsTechTalk makes sense
If Amazon would update their iOS Alexa app to have home control widgets they would be killing it.
Great video and update info. I’ve been adding the Airversa HomeKit air purifier to our home. Trying to get one in each room. Have 2 so far.
When nest cameras first came out I jumped onboard and have been happy with them but I would like to consolidate down from three control devices to just one. I am getting older and it is more and more of a pain in my behind to keep track of what controls what. I am wanting to make the jump to Apple home kit but I want to keep my nest cameras. Do you have any suggestions on how I can simply do this. I have a Google hub, and Alexa, apple TV and Firestick 4k max in every room. Firestick 4k max I am so over it.. I have added external storage for it but daily I get messages saying it it out of memory . I have been holding out on that just because I am so used to the layout and my spouse is used to it and they are completely anything but tech friendly.
I’m a loyal apple user but only now have my first HomePod mini so I’m still learning how it all works. I’d love to get some security cameras and light bulbs. I do have the enabot ebo pet interactive robot camera but I guess the sky is the limits except for your budget of course 😅
I have Aqara throughout my home and am VERY satisfied with it's integration with homekit (Thanks Hoobs). Am excited to see they will integrate with Matter! As always, nice video, much information!
Glad to hear they have worked out well for you. Thanks for watching.
Great review on the state of the state for Matter, Craig. Aqara seems like a fantastic quick and widespread upgrade to Matter, especially since (as I understand it) the other hubs will quickly upgrade to Matter as well (I’d guess right around CES as that seems like an opportunistic time to announce it).
CES also sounds like the time when Eve will likely announce Matter compliance upgrades for most of their devices, especially since all of their sold devices are now thread based (they stopped selling a few devices that are not thread based). Given their extensive history and product support with thread, they are another great company to watch for Matter compatibility early in 2023 (and no, I don’t work for or benefit in any way from Eve, though I have enough of their devices to be considered an invested!).
Great video! Question: I’m totally into the Apple ecosystem but I’m often anoyed by Siri‘s and Homepods restrictions. During Blackweek, I purchased an Echo Dot but I‘m still concerned about data security. Amazons Alexa is known for it listening in, that’s why it is so much smarter than Siri. Do you think that the Alexa is becoming safer to use because of the matter implementation? I would love to keep the majority of my smarthome Apple based but I would like to manage it all with an Echo Dot. Is that realistic?
Knowing Amazon, I have zero faith in their ability to view customer data as anything other than a product. I’d love to be wrong on this one day, as Alexa is fantastic. Once my kids started seeing adds on their devices based solely on conversations we had in the house, I ditched all of our Amazon devices the next day.
@Dr. Cole Honestly, I was living over seas and thought about purchasing a specific item...didn't say it, write about it, anything. And online shopping wasn't an option where in the world I was living.
And I started seeing ads for the item I decided on, like everywhere.
My point is, there may not be a connection between your conversations and the ads you're seeing. If anything, I'd say it's more likely your phones and tablets are listening to you.
Next up, the door Bell/camera. then 2x OUtdoor camera all for homekit (apple pure environment) Great videos!
Will making alexa compatible with matter involve an update or a new device?
Alexa is software bud, it's going to be a push update to the app not a hardware change. Unlike Siri which does use specific hardware features, Alexa requires a mic a speaker and a wifi connection only. The trade-off though, is that Siri is superior in practically every way.
I can't use smart bulbs with either my Echo or HomePod mini. They need 2.4GHz wi-fi and I have 5GHz. Will Matter make any difference to this?
Not really. What you want are Thread devices, and a hub for them if you don't already have one.
I’m really curious about the security for these devices. How will matter devices lock down, so we can block devices we don’t want from connecting and controlling these devices?
If you have just 1 ecosystem & all the devices work then you don't need to replace anything but yes as you say if you are looking to get a new device in the next month it's better to wait for matter devices ae we will have way more choice if devices.
Just learned today that I have 50 devices connected through my WiFi router! My smart home is based In Amazon ecosystem; generally functions well (crying in my beer…I love Big Brother). Big fan of the YoLink range of products - Long Range / Long-lasting batteries / novel capabilities (leak detection and water main shut off) /Device2Device connectivity/ Alexa compatible
I actually have no idea what my next smart home purchase will be. I think I’ve done as much as I can do in this house and need to wait until I find my next house to figure out what I need next. A bigger tv, definitely, but I’m not sure that quite counts. At the new house I definitely want window coverings automated. And I know I want outdoor string lights and an Eve Aqua. And Christmas decorations as Shane has inspired me with his beautiful setup! After that I think the thing I’m probably going to stock up on is motion sensors. That will make the biggest difference to my setup, especially as the next house needs to be guest friendly.
Almost bought that Smart Lock because they said it was getting matter. So glad I just went with a Phillips one even though it doesn't have much integration. Hopefully they will be a better wireless standard that uses less energy than Wi-Fi but can still connect to the Smart Home
It’s going to take a bit before these companies get all sorted out.
You said you think Google and Amazon are better at being an assistant. Can you explain?
I think Google and Amazon cover the information side of an assistant better. Both have better 3rd party integration. I find google is the most natural and best for information. Next would be Alexa, followed by Siri. As I understand it, Google and Amazon have consolidated user data more so than Siri. Also Google and Alexa have more features outside of the smart home. But Siri OS integration and home control is better in my opinion.
Surprised you hadn’t mentioned Apple TV’s. I thought they were going to support Matter. Correct?
I just upgraded to a google nest hub and come to find that there is a problem with the timer/sleep timer function that google is aware of but seems to be doing nothing about.
The sole reason I bought this device is so I can listen to something as I’m going to sleep and have it turn off after a few hrs my previous google device was getting old and I decided to upgrade to this one big mistake no timer so I tried to re install the old device but the sleep timer no longer works on that either
When we investigated we found this is a known problem and people have been having issues for a number of years and they don’t seem to be doing anything about it so to me I feel like I have been ripped off and I am not happy.
Not much point in investing in a smart home device if it can’t do a simple thing like turn things on or off at certain times just an expensive paper weight.
THANK YOU SO MUCH 🙏. WAS ABOUT TO BUY LIGHT SWITCHES WITH ALEXA. SCRATCH THAT. IVE DECIDED TO PUT SIRI HOMEPODS IN EACH ROOM ON A CUTE LITTLE SHELF AND HAVE AN OUTLET WITH ALL LIGHT SWITCHES WHERE THEY WILL GO.
Thanks for a great, informative video Craig!
Very informative Smart Home information.
Sorry, whats your Apple Watch strap? Thanks
I am using the black and gray trail loop for the ultra
I thought the smart home was going to be great but it's way more of a pain to get everything working than it's worth. I use Alexa and maybe that's the problem.
I thought it would be a pain but it was a smooth sail using Google home. There are things I still don't get but I can get basic automation done. Mainly smart switches that control lights.
I have tried all 3 main systems: Google, Alexa, and HomeKit. In my opinion, It comes down to this.
Alexa requires maintenance. It is cheaper, harder to get working, but there are so many options (typically not as secure).
Google is great for both beginners and people who wanna take things to the extreme. Some maintenance required, and there is a lag between command and action because it runs through the cloud.
HomeKit , in apple fashion is great if you are in the walled garden. It is going to be expensive, but it will be set it and forget it. It is also very responsive since it runs on the local network, you just will not have “all of the options”.
Apple HomeKit is by far the best in my opinion. And I am fully in the apple walled garden with everything now.
I also use Alexa, but I haven't experienced issues. What are you trying to do?
Feminists think that Alexa is just another way for people to tell a woman what to do
I'm new to the smart home thing and , upon researching it , I ended up getting a Google Nest mini.
The reason for this is simple, it works with all my Wi-Fi enabled devices , where as Amazon and Apple do not.
I have five Wi-Fi plugs, 5 Wi-Fi light bulbs and a Wi-Fi thermostat. None of which work with Apple Home Kit (my preference since I have an iPhone).
The Mini cost $35 , so not a huge expenditure and I'm having a blast playing with it ..... UM! .. Ahem .... I mean using it for practical purposes. 🙂
I will , in future, add devices that are cross compatible ( # Matter) but I couldn't see wasting my money (and existing devices) on buying new devices when what I have works great.
So far Google is the eco system with the most compatibility amongst existing/old manufacturers.
I just find it strange all these companies have decided to work together now, when they could have all been making compatible stuff for years and years. Zigbee isn't new and thread isn't a lot different (not being too technical I don't understand that stuff but it doesn't seem a lot different). It seemed to me Philips always went out of its way to keep its things limited to it, same for Apple. So what has changed to suddenly make them all want to work together? Could it be they want you to go out and buy a load of new stuff for the things that won't get updates?.......
Right now I use TUYA Smart app and it supports so many devices that are out. I use that app instead of the manufacturer's app no matter who the manufacturer is and it works with Tuya and thus with Amazon and Google. I believe TUYA is going to support Matter. I have motion sensors, bulbs and switches that I installed all using TUYA and because I have the TUYA skill enabled in Amazon and with Google those smart speakers automatically discover the devices. If this is what Matter is going to be like I say bring it on.
Hey Nikki, Happy Holidays. Thanks for sharing your experience with Tuya. What you are getting in Tuya is supposed to be that reality of Matter. I am excited to see it all get that easy and be able to pick your app of your choice to manage your home.
Next step here, i’m waiting for my pre order of the new Homey pro 2023 by Athom. Already using a Homey pro 2018 as the main brain of the house and it’s really worth looking into this if you are about to invest in smart home.
All so really worth a review maybe?
don't need matter when HomeAssistant exists. Defintely geared towards power users but it's unmatched atm.
I don't have an intricate smart home. I have some Google assistant devices. Some smart outlets, smart bulbs and google based TV's. I also have some third party cameras that are supposed to work with Google assistant.
Everything I use works properly except for the cameras. I guess I'm cool with that
I’m going to buy a LG C2 this week because it’s HomeKit compatible. So I can automate my tv.
So basically I could buy 10 GU10 colour bulbs made by a matter certified company and add them into any Matter certified hub?
I think the whole point in Matter is that you do not require a central hub, as the devices connect to each other via P2P connections. This means the devices themselves allocate bandwidth and handshakes without reliance upon a hub.
So you could add any Matter certificed devices to any Matter supported network, and your phone acts as a hub when you need to fiddle settings. Fairly sure that's the entire point of it. Thread networks work in a similar way but requires specific hardware in each device.
i love videos like this. the last few weeks i've seen a lot of them warning of alexa going away. i have a lot of alexa devices and am concerned all the money spent is for nothing - again my wife is right. i have many things i would like to do, but it appears now is the time to stop all purchases until things shake out
Are the Alexa going away warnings because Amazon are losing money on those products and laying people off? Watch the recent video by Automate Your Life about it. I don’t think Alexa is going anywhere. I won’t have her in my house, but she’s here to stay. She’s a loss leader. A marketing strategy that’s been around for decades, just done a bit differently now with online shopping. We did it in the furniture store I worked in 20 years ago. We would advertise a tv unit at a bargain price. We were losing money every time we sold one at that price. But it got people in the door and then it was our job to sell them a better, more expensive tv unit, or some add ons to cover the loss. 9 times out of 10 we covered the loss and then some. More than enough to make up for the bit we lost when that one other person only wanted the cheap one.
So does this mean the Echo Dot 3 is supported?
The next thing I want to do is make a smart home dashboard on an extra tablet I have, since now it really looks like we're not going to get one from Amazon on the Show 15. So, I'm thinking of moving into Smartthings and Sharp Tools. As for other devices, I'm looking as mostly Zigbee since with Wifi, we might lose those manufacturer apps at some point that allow integration with voice assistants due to Matter taking over. It seems to me like it will be too long to wait for equivalent Thread devices.
Just for clarification for people.
Matter is the standard,
Thread is the protocol.
Thank you tor this. Good to distinguish the two.
I hoping matter will allow Wyze cams to work with the new Roku cameras so I can watch my cams on my Roku tv.
Someone would have to test all that while walking in the middle of the street with a megaphone and screaming commands to Siri, Alexa and Google....lol
I wanted to use homekit but the main language in my house is Spanish and when I started (a couple of months ago) siri was not bilingual. In our home we are all iphone users and funny enough all of our settings are in english but still, our main language is spanish, I leave in Puerto Rico btw. On the other hand, Alexa you can put it bilingual and use Spanish or English language. One thing I am doing is building everything with compatibility with all assistants in case siri add multiple languages in the future.
Please let me know when you get this worked out. Thank you
One of the biggest hurdles and changes matter is going to bring is the camera and security circuit. They haven't mentioned how they are going to do it yet but its going to be really interesting and tricky to see how they make cameras (especially ones that require subscriptions to view like Nest) into the fold. Smart plugs and lights are getting easy to find without the need for Matter. Doorbells and security systems? We'll have to keep our finger on the pulse with those.
Yeah the whole security and camera side is a big question mark. Who know if they end up delayed with a matter camera certification. It could be a year or two before we see a certification. Hopefully not.
Good video, although I'll never be an apple user, I hate Apple, this was still very good info.
Thank you very much. I appreciate you saying that. Thank you for watching
Nice one Craig 🇮🇪😎👏
What is quite a disappointment: missing native NFC support + in Europe the echo button ist not available. Other smart buttons like HUE and IKEA are not supported within Alexa (e.g. to trigger Routines) …. hope, that at least the later will be fixed, once Matter is fully supported.
You are so right about the NFC. NFC is such a great tool. I love using tags with Apple shortcuts. I wish Alexa recognized them. The button side has been pretty weak.
Hey Craig, the HomePod Minis are on sale again at Costco for $79.99.
Thanks for sharing. Have a great day
Are any of the big automation companies like Control4 adopting Matter?
I do not know. I feel like it’s more consumer grade. But I need to research it.
All of my Google devices have been updated to support matter. They are live already
Thank you Dwayne for the update. That is great to hear. I need to check that out on my end. Thanks for watching.
11:06 They got rid of iPad hub support.
Sounds like we need a comparison of the new Google Home app versus Apple's Home app
Good idea. Thank you. Thank you for watching.
No problems so far. Meross plugs and HomeKit minis scenes are working better.
Glad to hear that.
Meanwhile, at a bar near Craig's house:
"You look like you could use some cheering up. What's the Matter, friend?"
Craig: "Just cameras, home appliances, robot vacuums, and advanced energy management categories, so far."
I initially bought a few Phillip hue devices but can’t support them anymore with the high prices they charge. I’m excited for matter to break down the ecosystems. I’m heavy into google home products but have an iPhone. Not ideal.
I went over to cync and never regretted it. Hue isn't that much better.
The idea of purchasing all new items just for Matter support is NOT gonna work for me. Nanoleaf bulbs are exhibit A. They’re delusional to think I’m buying all new bulbs. Yet alone bigger products like my air purifiers, etc. Was so excited, yet so quickly disappointed in the Matter announcement 😩😩
I agree. I’m not dropping more money on new Nanoleaf bulbs
There’s really no compelling reason to do so, either, presuming you’re sticking with the same SmartHome platform.
@@Dr_Cole I’d like to use apple and Amazon both as I have both assistants but I don’t plan on buying a whole new set of Nanoleaf bulbs
I'd love to see how you're using all these products in your home
My home is dumb and I love it like that.
Apple TV and Homekit compatible cameras are my next purchase
Nice. The Aqara cameras have been nice.
I also got the encode plus… I was also bummed when they said it wont be matter
Sorry to hear you are in the same place. It is an awesome lock though. Thanks for watching.
Or just keep going with Shelly and don't care about matter because home assistant is better anyway :P
Planing on buying a smart radiator to svae som cash by only hesting my garage during the hours when the electricity is cheap.
Way to Apple centric here in Australia not many things work with Home Kit , Google and Amazon rule.
Thank you for your help
Thank you. Glad to help.
@PremiereGal833 what
Why have a Homepod Mini when I can control my devices from the Iphone or the Ipad already? other then playing music on the Homepod Mini.
You should just use your current devices then, if you don’t see the value. I am not going to convince you.
The only thing that I would point out why you'd eventually want the homepod mini is that Apple is changing how the ipad will work as a home hub in the new os 16 release. You can still use it to control existing products but you will not receive updates for new features coming in 16 release. There's an article covering this on the web.
Kind of daft to have your entire SmartHome controlled by a device that isn't a part of it.
I mean don't lose your phone!! Lol you will be locked out your house.
If you want your SmartHome to actually BE smart, YOU have to be a smart user of it. 👍
Thanks Craig.
Thank you Ron. Hope you are doing well.
Should it say "home IS changing"?
What about the switch bot hub 5:40
Hello Thomas, I do not know the upgrade plan for SwitchBot. We should know more after CES in January.
Thanks!
Thank you Walter. I really appreciate you being a channel member. Happy new year. Have a great day Walter.
Thank you also for the Super Chat. That is very nice of you. Have a great weekend.
Get an Amazon Fire Tablet and get your Alexa Matter on android and control all your Digidoos with your ios Alexa app.
You called it!
ALEXA: "I'm sorry, I don't understand this video! ... Please take a look at the help section in the Alexa app!"
ME: "Alexa, £u(k off!"
ALEXA: [ turns off her light ring in disgust! ]
11:05 I don't think the iPad works as a HomeKit hub anymore after the new Home app came out.
No it does not work as a hub. I wasn’t mentioning it as a hub. Any one can setup HomeKit using an iPad instead of an iPhone. You can still use an iPad as a hub if you don’t upgrade to iOS16. Other than that for iOS 16 it’s just the HomePod and Apple TV for hub. But I love that you can setup and manage it from an iPad only. Thanks for watching.
Idk how we still don't have rechargeable smart hubs
Wait what? How is Apple home Kit better than Google Nest system? You confused me there
Does it really Matter?
Remember Wink? Don’t but products hoping they will become useful. 😅🤦🏽
This standard will not work. It will stifle progress and not allow for competition. My opinion anyway.
I'm into Google ecosystem
Google speakers doesn't have a zigbee inside, but the speaker is good answering questions
Matter 1.0 save Apple HomeKit 🍎