Yeah, that’s the IF.
We know the devices will show up in the Home app and we know you can control them with Siri. But we don’t know if the matter devices can be used in HomeKit automations.
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This looks promising!
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Woo hoo!
Answering my own question, today’s Developer session on HomeKit and Matter established that:
- matter will have a parallel path into the HomeKit framework
- scenes and automations will be usable with matter devices on the same basis as HomeKit accessories: that is, you have to have HomePod mini, an Apple TV, or a plugged in iPad to act as the hub
- on boarding the matter device will look identical to on boarding a HomeKit device
- Matter status like is the door locked or is the sensor open will be available in the same way as HomeKit accessories and can be queried via Siri or an app
- if you are using a different hub that has an iOS app, that app could use the HomeKit/matter framework to connect matter devices to that hub and provides an instant interface which is pretty cool.
All of the above available through the developer preview of iOS 15.
So far the only thing that has been verified to be still in development is the ability to use custom characteristics in matter. Those are not yet supported through this framework but they do intend to do so in the future.
So lots of interesting stuff. Of course all of this requires iOS, so android users will need to find an alternative solution.
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I guess the only thing that would still need a HomeKit certification is HomeKit Secure Video?
Not sure, they’ve kept them as two separate stacks, so I’m not sure what else is involved. But definitely matter is much more integrated than I expected. 
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Another tick in the box to make me switch back to iPhone after years of being on android/Samsung.
This definitely makes homekit much more appealing when the matter devices become available.
Would it be possible for smartthings to make there hubs matter compatible or is that totally impossible as I know Philips hue are doing it?
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OK so in theory the smartthings hub if matter compatible would work with homekit now aswell as a bridge/hub for zigbee and zwave devices?
We don’t know yet what SmartThings’ approach to Matter will be. There’s a whole slew of paths they could take:
- Matter certification for TVs, Fridges, etc
- #1 + also bringing Matter devices into SmartThings app/cloud
- #2 + expose zigbee and zwave devices to other Matter controllers like HomeKit.
- #3 + add Thread compatibility for V3/Aeotec hub owners
I’m personally hoping they go #4 
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Not exactly.
If SmartThings wanted to, they could modify their iOS app so that matter-compliant devices could show up in both the SmartThings app and the HomeKit app.
It wouldn’t bring in any non-matter-compliant devices. The smartthings hub itself could show up in the HomeKit app as a matter “admin,” . But only if Samsung built those options into their iOS app. SmartThings features like SmartThings home monitor and location.modes would probably not show up in HomeKit. Automations created in smartthings would not show up in the Home kit app and probably could not work with any HomeKit accessories unless those accessories were also matter compliant.
But basically if the device is matter-compliant it can start showing up very easily in a lot of different places, which is what this is. Very cool. Samsung did announce that the smartthings platform would support matter devices, but we don’t know any more details on that yet.
Apple is adding support matter at the OS level by HomeKit. Other smart hubs, called “admins,” can access matter devices from their own iOS apps using this framework, and the devices will also show up in the home app.
Thanks for the explanation, I thought it would be to good to be true if my zigbee and zwave devices would work with any matter compatible platforms but its still very cool to know that anything you buy that’s matter certified will work with all of the ecosystems.
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@JDRoberts
Hi, as far as I am aware the Philips Hue Hub is making Zigbee devices visible as Matter compatible devices with the Hub handling this. Matter supports certain wireless standards e.g. Thread directly and originally CHIP was talking about Zigbee devices so I feel in theory Zigbee devices could also be Matter compatible even though as far as I am aware no Zigbee devices as of yet are Matter compliant. However Matter does specifically support IP connectivity as well hence the ability to communicate via the Hue Hub.
On this basis it would seem at least possible - if unlikely, that the Smartthings Hub could expose Zigbee devices as Matter compliant devices if Smartthings bothered to implement this. I have more confidence that HomeAssistant will achieve this although in an uncertified solution.
Agreed on both counts: it’s definitely possible, but I don’t know whether smartthings will choose to do that. 
As far as zigbee, again, you are right on both counts. Right now it will be possible through a bridge with some devices, and the zigbee alliance (now CSA) has already said that they expect sometime in the future that there will be an option for direct zigbee/Matter Integration.
Hmmm. New thought.
The Philips Hue Hub currently only exposes to HomeKit official devices i.e. made by Philips. I believe ‘Friends of Hue’ devices might also be included but as all or nearly all of those are batteryless green power switches they may not count.
Since the articles linked to via this thread have now shown Apple intend to support Matter devices - without needing HomeKit certification, would this make it possible for ‘unofficial’ Zigbee devices which are already compatible with Philips Hue (even if not exposed directly to HomeKit) to be seen via the Hue Hub’s Matter mode and hence be useable in Apple’s Home app?
This could mean that one could then use one of the many Zigbee micro modules compatible with Philips Hue along with momentary wired wall switches. These are currently not exposed to HomeKit but if seen via Matter might then work.
The short answer is no, that’s not how it’s going to work. Phillips is only going to make the change for their own devices. Same way HomeKit works now.
The longer answer is you can already use homebridge to create a virtual Phillips hue bridge and bring in almost any device you want to HomeKit. It’s quite likely that that same method will be possible with matter. But it doesn’t give you anything you don’t already have, it’s using the same structures.