Does Homebridge even Matter any more? [Video]

Keeping a unified smart home – where any smart phone or home assistant can be used to control any smart home device you have – can be a bit of challenge. Previously, many iPhone users have used Homebridge to connect otherwise unsupported devices to Apple’s Home app. But the Matter standard could make that unnecessary, as Matter compatible devices will be compatible with Amazon, Google, and Apple’s smart home ecosystems. That begs the question: Will Matter make Homebridge obsolete?

What’s Homebridge?

Homebridge is an open-source software you can run on your computer that essentially translates the commands that Apple’s HomeKit uses to commands that other smart devices use. There are thousands of different plugins that can be installed in Homebridge to support a wide array of different devices, from smart cameras and lights to locks and even Tesla vehicles. When you connect your smart devices to Homebridge, you then have a QR code to scan and add that bridge – and all the devices connected to it – to Apple’s Home app.

There are a bunch of reasons people may choose to set up Homebridge rather than sticking with native HomeKit accessories. Perhaps you already owned smart devices before switching phones, the place you live already had a smart thermostat built in, or you just want more choice in your smart devices. Native HomeKit devices can also be expensive, so going with alternative options that aren’t natively compatible with HomeKit can save money that really adds up as you build out your smart home. Homebridge can be run on everything from single board computers like the Raspberry Pi to Mac and Windows computers and even in Docker containers. There are also all-in-one solutions from HOOBS to avoid some of the setup.

Video: Does Homebridge MATTER any more?

Matter is here

While Matter seemed like it was looming just over the horizon for quite some time, it’s finally here. The Matter smart home standard utilizes some existing technologies, such as Thread, and was built collaboratively by a bunch of industry leaders, including Apple, Amazon, Google, LG, and more. The goal is for smart home devices from almost any manufacturer to be able to be mixed and matched with whatever other smart home gear you have available, and you can control them from Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant. Like HomeKit, you can just use a QR code to add devices to your home, and they communicate either directly over Wi-Fi or through a Thread border router depending on the specific device.

Can Matter and HomeBridge co-exist?

It’s easy to see Matter as a threat to Homebridge’s existence as devices with Matter support won’t need to communicate through Homebridge to connect with your smart home – but that’s not a bad thing, and at least for now there is still a need for Homebridge. Currently, the Matter standard only features support for limited device types. These categories cover a wide range, including lighting, door locks, a wide array of sensors, speakers, and more, but at this point Matter notably lacks support for cameras. You can pick up something as cheap as the $25 Blink mini camera to get limited camera support through Homebridge, but no cameras are able to support Matter until the standard itself is revised to add support.

And while Matter devices are finally out in the real world, and even some pre-existing devices are seeing updates to support Matter, it’s unrealistic to think that people will totally replace every existing piece of smart tech in their house just so it all makes use of the latest standard. There will be a significant period of time where people are making use of their existing smart switches, bulbs, cameras, and thermostats before they ever see reason to pay for replacements.

People with really advanced setups will also want to stick with Homebridge for a while, with things like dummy switches and plug-ins that remove the need for manufacturer specific hubs. HOOBS recognizes that even throughout and after this transition to the Matter standard people will find Homebridge helpful, and they’re releasing a new all-in-one device with Zigbee, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Thread, and Matter support.

Matter does have several advantages over HomeBridge as well. In order to get HomeBridge to work with your smart home devices, you’ll need to install the selected plugins. Some of these are great, working both locally and quickly, but for others there are multiple different plugins that claim to offer support for the same products, and others still require you log in with online credentials for that smart device and control them over the Internet – introducing additional delay and risk of downtime. Matter has a focus on totally local control, so they can react faster and you can still control your smart home device in the event of an internet outage.

9to5Mac’s Take

So, if you’re working on your smart home right now, what should you do? If you’re getting new devices, it’s certainly worth looking at which devices natively support Matter. If there are good options for a reasonable price, going with Matter devices should provide the most seamless experience. Likewise, if you’re just starting to build out a smart home, it makes sense to go with Matter devices wherever possible.

If you like to tinker though, utilizing Homebridge can still give you extra control over your devices, and in the long run you can save money if you choose to go with third party options at a lower price. There’s no point in seeing Matter as a threat to Homebridge, as both Homebridge and Matter share the same goal: to create a more unified smart home. With Homebridge, that experience was only brought to those who were willing to tinker, running extra software and utilizing extra hardware to make smart home devices connect in ways they were never intended to. Matter devices bring that capability to anyone, regardless of their desire to tinker about and deal with some potentially confusing configuration.

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