The Connectivity Standard Alliance (CSA), the organization responsible for Matter, which aims to unify smart home products, promised a steady pace, with no fewer than two updates per year. And with version 1.3, the Matter protocol has just reached a major milestone. This update brings essential features for managing energy, water, electric vehicle charging stations, and much more. Let's explore these new features in a little more detail. Improved Consumption MonitoringOne of the major advantages of Matter 1.3 is the integration of energy consumption monitoring, allowing users to better manage and optimize the use of their connected devices.

Matter is now able to receive and process data relating to power, intensity, and current consumption in real time, as well as consumption statistics sent by connected devices, such as the Eve plug we previously reviewed. Energy monitoring is essential in a home automation system.

Among the supported devices that have a significant impact on energy consumption: electric vehicle charging stations. These devices are now compatible with Matter 1.3. You can adjust the power output and program the desired charging capacity, providing a more personalized experience.

Along with hot water and heating, the electric vehicle is becoming one of the most important household appliances. Water management is also part of this update, thanks to support for water meters, motorized valves, and also leak, frost, and rain sensors, for example. These features aim to provide greater transparency into household energy consumption, thus promoting energy savings and better planning of energy expenditures.

Matter 1.3 strengthens interoperability between diverse ecosystems and devices. With the support of Tuya, a major player in IoT development, this update ensures broader compatibility with a wide range of devices and platforms. Tuya now officially supports Matter, meaning its many devices and solutions will be compatible with this standard, offering users greater flexibility in choosing products for their connected home.

Expanding Device Support

With Matter 1.3, the protocol expands its support to more household appliances: ovens and microwaves, cooktops, range hoods, and clothes dryers. This expansion allows users to connect a wider range of home devices to their home automation system, including previously unsupported devices, thus increasing the possibilities for home automation and management. Smart TV support is also being improved, notably with support for notifications: the home automation system will soon be able to display notifications on the TV, such as when a visitor rings your doorbell.

Custom Scenes and Automations

A notable new feature in Matter 1.3 is the introduction of native scene management, allowing users to create custom automations directly via the Matter protocol. This simplifies the configuration and use of home scenes, making automation more accessible to all users, regardless of their technical level. While Apple and Google already offered the ability to create scenes, the advantage of creating them directly in Matter will be that these scenes can be retrieved regardless of the system used.

The arrival of Matter 1.3 promises to simplify and improve the user experience in the connected home world. By providing a more robust framework for interoperability and expanding support to a wider range of devices, this update marks an important step towards achieving true standardization in home automation. This not only facilitates the integration of new devices, but also encourages the adoption of smart home technology through a more open and universally compatible platform.

These improvements illustrate the continued commitment of Matter developers to making home automation technology more accessible and efficient, promising seamless integration and constant innovation for users around the world. While we'll have to wait a little while for this update to be implemented by various manufacturers, it's undoubtedly one of the most significant and eagerly awaited updates to the protocol!