Aqara adds support for 50 new Matter device types

Aqara’s Matter controllers, including the Camera Hub G5 Pro, Doorbell Camera Hub G410, Hub M3, and Hub M100 pictured, tin present enactment implicit 50 Matter instrumentality types.

Aqara is adding support for implicit 50 caller Matter instrumentality types, making it 1 of the astir broad astute location platforms successful presumption of Matter support, alongside Samsung SmartThings and Home Assistant. 

The institution is besides bringing advanced bridging to each its Matter controllers, allowing you to integrate Aqara’s galore precocious automation features into immoderate Matter-compatible astute location level via scenes and triggers. This includes Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, and Google Home. The caller update besides lets you span Matter devices that are not yet supported by a level into those ecosystems.

The caller Matter instrumentality types that tin present link to Aqara Matter controllers include:

• Robotic vacuums
• Dimmable plugs
• Smoke and CO alarms
• Air prime sensors
• Leak, freeze, and rainfall sensors
• Curtains and blinds
• Fans and aerial purifiers
• Air conditioners and vigor pumps
• Water valves and pumps
• Pressure sensors
• Solar panels and artillery storage
• Electric conveyance chargers
• Washing machines and dryers
• Fridges and freezers
• Cooktops, hoods, and room surfaces
• Ovens and stoves
• Water heaters
• Video players and speakers

This is successful summation to sensors, thermostats, switches, and lights, which were already supported. Aqara says the update volition rotation retired with Aqara Home mentation 5.1.9 and Matter Controller firmware mentation 4.3.5 aboriginal this month.

Aqara seems committed to making its level unfastened and interoperable, stating that it believes interoperability is indispensable to determination the astute location manufacture forward. “By extending Matter support, we purpose to connection users greater flexibility and guarantee that Aqara products stay utile crossed a wide scope of platforms,” said Eugene You, CEO of Aqara. 

Aqara has agelong worked with each the large astute location platforms, including Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and more precocious SmartThings, and it’s present positioning itself arsenic a cardinal portion of the Matter astute home.

Aqara hubs enactment with its enactment of Zigbee-based astute location products; respective are besides Thread borderline routers. The institution says they person been optimized to enactment Thread web sharing, meaning they tin articulation existing Thread networks managed by Apple HomePods, Amazon Echos, oregon Google Nest hubs, for example. However, compatibility volition beryllium connected those platforms’ implementation of Thread. This should assistance supply a stronger web for Thread astute location devices.

Advanced bridging, which was introduced with the M3 hub earlier this year, volition travel to each existent and upcoming Aqara Matter controllers, adjacent the entry-level Hub M100. This brings 2 benefits. First, you tin span Matter devices into platforms that don’t yet enactment that instrumentality type, and second, you tin usage Aqara’s precocious automation features and scenes successful immoderate Matter-compatible platform.

The second quality means that you tin usage Aqara’s G4 Video Doorbell’s facial designation diagnostic arsenic a trigger successful an Apple Home automation that turns your lights connected erstwhile you travel home. The facial designation trigger is added to Apple Home arsenic a virtual “occupancy sensor,” according to Aqara.

Other precocious features that tin beryllium translated arsenic either “virtual occupancy sensors” oregon “virtual plugs” see bundle detection from a camera’s on-device AI, autumn detection from Aqara FP2 mm-wave sensor, and automations triggered by a device’s vigor usage. Fingerprint sensing, motion control, and beingness sensing tin each besides translate, according to Aqara. 

This precocious bridging diagnostic is not autochthonal to the Matter spec, but is thing a hub shaper needs to develop. Home Assistant has akin capabilities that let you to import its scenes, scripts, functions, and different non-Matter-supported entities to connected platforms.

Aqara says precocious bridging is fundamentally a stopgap solution that allows users to entree its afloat features successful immoderate Matter level until (or if) Matter gains enactment for these much precocious features.