I’ve worked with a lot of different technologies and vendor ecosystems since I first started tinkering with home automation in 2011. It started with Z-Wave devices and ADT Pulse but expanded to include Google Nest, Amazon Alexa, HomeSeer, Homebridge, and Ring, with additional forays into things like HomeAssistant and Node-Red, plus a proliferation of new Z-Wave Plus and WiFi devices (I’ve never dabbled with Zigbee though).
My current system is built around HomeSeer on a HomeTroller Pi with an 800 Series Z-Wave hat, so adding new Z-Wave devices is easy. Devices that use WiFi, however, typically require using the vendor’s specific app, like Tuya, Kasa, or SmartLife, and then I have to use an additional plug-in for HomeSeer in order to be able to control them there. It gets complicated.
Matter is a new communications standard for smart home devices hoping to simplify that complicated sprawl. A Matter-enabled device will work with any Matter-enabled hub, can connect to multiple hubs at the same time, and most major vendors (like Apple, Google, Amazon, etc.) are adding Matter support to their devices.
