Matter, the home automation protocol that should eventually unify the entire connected home, is progressing slowly, with new devices being added every week. This time, it's the manufacturer of the popular smart lock Nuki that has announced its upcoming compatibility with this long-awaited protocol. Since the company was founded by Martin and Jürgen Pansy in 2014 and entered the market in 2016, Nuki has always been a pioneer in the field of smart lock systems. The lock is indeed one of the most widely used to date. The Austrian founding brothers couldn't ignore Matter. Matter is an open source standard created by the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) that makes home automation devices from different manufacturers compatible with each other. This should ultimately significantly facilitate the adoption and use of home automation. The CSA currently has 620 members worldwide, and Nuki has been contributing its expertise since early 2022.
As a European company, Nuki is also initiating support for European door locks within the framework of the standards created by the CSA. Indeed, in the United States, where the development of the Matter standard began and which is home to industry giants such as Google and Apple, locks have only two functions: unlocking and locking. European models, on the other hand, almost all have a handle on the outside and offer a latch to keep the door closed without locking it. Thanks to its active cooperation with the CSA, Nuki was able to develop the “unlock without pulling the latch” feature and thus improve support for European doors. Here's what they have to say:
Without Nuki, this highly requested feature would not be part of the new version of Matter expected this fall. And this is not only a benefit for our customers, but for the entire Matter ecosystem.
Martin Pansy
Matter will be integrated into future smart locks via Thread. A few explanations:
Matter can be thought of as a universal language that allows smart home devices, regardless of brand and model, to connect and communicate with each other.
Thread is the communication channel that transmits instructions. It's an extremely efficient mesh network with a wide range, similar to Wi-Fi, but with high energy efficiency.
- Matter enables seamless, local integration of smart locks with Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Samsung SmartThings, and many other services. The devices communicate locally via hubs so that security-relevant data never leaves the house or apartment. Activation is as simple as scanning a barcode. In October 2022, we unveiled the first prototypes of a smart lock supporting Matter and announced that we expect to release our first Matter-enabled devices in the second half of 2023. We are working hard to deliver on our commitments.
- Martin Pansy,
Co-founder
As you can see, Matter compatibility will come with a new smart lock. This is a bit of a frustrating point, as other devices provide Matter support via a simple update. But for the Smart Lock, this requires a change in the communication protocol. The lock and its functions should remain the same, but the Nuki lock will become more easily interoperable with all other smart home devices (Matter-compatible, of course), while benefiting from better battery life thanks to the energy-efficient Thread. We'll talk about it again as soon as we have more details on the availability date.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GuTiKAsddA
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