Matter is delayed until the first half of 2022
Unless you have opted for a single solution from the beginning, the normal thing is that you have connected devices at home that can work with different platforms such as Apple, Google or Amazon. And that is or would be great if later in real life there were not the communication problems that most of us know from having suffered them in our own flesh.
And it is that home automation has needed for several years a single standard that helps to solve the mess between protocols and compatibility according to the platform and assistant that you want to use at all times. Because if at one point you decide to bet on Alexa and later you want to switch to Siri and HomeKit, the headache you get when trying to make everything work the same is important.
Hence, when Matter was announced, we all jumped for joy. Because at last these problems could be ended with a communication language between connected devices that would not make distinctions between platforms. Thus, if the user wanted to use Google Home together with Google Assistant, they could also do so with other options such as HomeKit and Siri or the Amazon Alexa platform without resorting to convoluted solutions such as HomeBridge.
Well, although the official launch date had been set for the last quarter of 2021 and the first products would also arrive at the end of the year, now those responsible for the development of Matter they have said that delayed until the first half of 2022.
This has made many users wonder to what extent does this mean that the standard is stillborn or if its delay is bad news. It is not easy to answer, but it is neither one nor the other. In other words, being delayed is always annoying, but the decision is well justified because they want the partners behind the project to receive a previous version.
In this way, with the previous version, the correct implementation in both current and new products could be ensured. Something important, because from the beginning Matter must come to reinforce the ideal that this is the standard that everyone should use to advance as the rest of the current options never achieved.
The problem or collateral damage is that the first devices with Matter will also be delayed because it is necessary to make sure that from day one everything works well. But still it is great news that Matter is concerned to function optimally from the first moment it is released for use by any user.
The future of the connected home belongs to Matter
Without hesitation and with a clear tone: Matter is vital for the home automation market. To achieve an experience when connecting with light bulbs, switches, vacuum cleaners, speakers, locks, etc., it is vital to have effective and safe tools.
So, yes, it is bad news if you wanted to buy new devices with the intention of being compatible in the future, but being delayed is not a bad sign if when it arrives it does so with all the guarantees and promised compatibility.