Why Your Smart Home Still Isn’t “Smart” With t

Smart homes sound great in theory, but in reality, they often become a patchwork of devices, each with its own app and ecosystem. Because different brands don't speak the same language, your home never feels fully connected, and you're pushed to stick with just one or two brands to keep things working.

The Promise of Matter

The industry's answer is Matter, a unified standard intended to let all smart-home devices communicate through one shared protocol. In that way, it represents a huge leap ahead in terms of compatibility, at least for basic control. But it does not completely solve the problem.

What Matter Actually Delivers

Matter handles the essentials reliably:

• On/off
• Brightness
• Basic colors
• Simple color temperature
• Etc.

What It Doesn’t Deliver

A huge part of what makes smart-home brands/products special doesn't come through with Matter:

• Dynamic scenes: Fireplace, color loops, animations
• Gradient and multi-zone controls
• Entertainment sync: Movies, music, gaming
• Advanced effects and transitions

These remain locked behind the manufacturer's own app.

The Bottom Line

Matter improves basic compatibility, but it doesn't finally unify the smart-home experience. Advanced features get lost, older devices won't support it, and you still often find yourself jumping between brand apps. Matter is progress, not the final solution. For now, even the smartest smart homes still use platforms like Home Assistant or Homey to tie everything together.