About Matter Compatibility

Developer Programs
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A quick question, if I develop a Z-wave lock, which is compatible with current Samsung SmartThings: SmartThings 2018 Hub (IM6001-V3P01), which is a matter edge router. Can I tell market my lock is a Matter supported Lock? I am confused by some description about matter support locks.

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No, the one in the screenshot is not Z-Wave, it uses Thread radio and is compatible with Matter over Thread.

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No, because it isn’t.

Matter is not just some vague indication of interoperability. It is a completely separate protocol that is built on top of existing technologies. It uses IPV6 on Thread, Wi-Fi and Ethernet for connecting devices, and BLE to assist device setup. An ‘edge router’ is used to bridge Thread and Wi-Fi/Ethernet networks.

So asking if you can tell the market your Z-Wave lock is Matter supported on the strength of it working with a SmartThings hub that supports Matter is no different to asking if you could tell the market it is a Zigbee lock because it works with a SmartThings hub that also supports Zigbee.

There is also the separate issue is that you can’t just claim Matter capability without putting a device through an official certification programme, just as you need to certify Zigbee and Z-Wave devices.

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An end device, like a lock, can work with matter in one of two different ways.

  1. The lock can be individually certified to work with matter. There is a testing and certification process after which the independent third-party standard organization gives you permission to use the Matter logo with the device.

At the present time, this is only available for devices which use matter over Wi-Fi or matter over thread. It is not yet available for Z wave devices of any kind. Or, btw, for Zigbee devices.

  1. The device can connect to a hub which is itself certified as a “matter bridge.“ for example, this is how aqara can say that its Zigbee lock will work with matter. The lock uses Zigbee to connect to the aqara hub, which is itself certified as a matter bridge. So there is no matter logo available on the lock. There is a matter logo on the hub. The lock product description is allowed to say that it can use matter when connected to its own hub— but only if the device manufacturer has specifically enabled the bridging feature for that lock model.

SwitchBot has a lock that connects with its own hub using Bluetooth, and then that hub can act as a matter bridge to bring that lock into other platforms. So again, that lock product description is allowed to say that it can use matter when connected to its own hub. But the box for the lock does not have the matter logo.

  1. at the time of this posting, the smartthings/Aeotec hub does NOT act as a “matter bridge” for any device of any type. And the company has indicated it’s probably not going to do that. Their support of matter is only one way in, nothing out. That might change sometime in the future, but for now, being able to work with SmartThings doesn’t add any matter capabilities to any device.

  2. at the time of this posting, no company has created a Z wave to matter Bridge. And no company has announced plans to do so. That’s probably because z wave uses a different addressing method than Zigbee and Wi-Fi, so a Z wave to matter bridge would be more work to create. It’s not impossible, and we may see some eventually, but there just aren’t any now.

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So, eventually, if some hub that supports zwave announces that it is certified as a “matter bridge for zwave,” then it is possible (but not guaranteed) that if your Z wave lock works with that hub, it might be able to work with matter in that fashion. But until then, no Z wave device works with matter.

For more information, see the official matter organization site

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Thanks a lot. It is very helpful!

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