JVjvican·Nov 7, 2022Submission
Matter, the new smart home connectivity standard
17 points · Open discussionproject-chip
connectedhomeip
C++2020–2024
project-chip / connectedhomeip
connectedhomeip
Matter (formerly Project CHIP) creates more connections between more objects, simplifying development for manufacturers and increasing compatibility for consumers, guided by the Connectivity Standards Alliance.
18Distinct people
25Mentions
0Explicit recommenders
9KGitHub stars
What to know before exploring
What it is
Matter (formerly Project CHIP) creates more connections between more objects, simplifying development for manufacturers and increasing compatibility for consumers, guided by the Connectivity Standards Alliance.
GitHub
Where it is used
No documented product use was verified in the last source check.
What people are saying
No recommendation phrase was found in the indexed comments.
No classified warning is attached to this page. Read the discussions before treating silence as approval.
Also in these discussions
No other repository is repeatedly linked in the same discussions.
This week on Hacker News
Nov 8–Nov 15 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/15/2026, 9:01:12 PM UTC.
No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.
Mentions over time
HN mentions by year25 dated mentions
Observed mentions: 2020-07-01 20:01:15 UTC to 2024-08-06 16:14:16 UTC.
Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.
View mention counts and date ranges
| Period | Start (UTC) | End (exclusive, UTC) | Mentions | Submissions | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| 2021 | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 2022 | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 12 | 2 | 10 |
| 2023 | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 2024 | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
What Hacker News says
12 sources> Open source reference implementation: Google, Apple, Home Assistant, we're all going to be running the same code to be a Matter controller. Chip manufacturers like Espressif and Nordic maintain implementations for their boards in there too, so anyone can now have the software to produce Matter compatible light bulbs. https://github.com/project-chip/connectedhomeip
Will have to go through that documentation later, but are there any chips like ESP32/ESP8266 that hobbyists can use? Specifically for Thread.
In Matter – Protocol to connect compatible devices and systems with one anotherThe official Matter SDK has examples targeting the ESP32, along with other low-cost chipsets: https://github.com/project-chip/connectedhomeip/tree/master/...
In Matter – Protocol to connect compatible devices and systems with one anotherThey will because there is an open source reference implementation that they can use: https://github.com/project-chip/connectedhomeip
In Matter – Protocol to connect compatible devices and systems with one anotherAt Home Assistant we're very excited about Matter.
Here are some highlights for us:
Open source reference implementation: Google, Apple, Home Assistant, we're all going to be running the same code to be a Matter controller. Chip manufacturers like Espressif and Nordic maintain implementations for their boards in there too, so anyone can now have the software to produce Matter compatible light bulbs. https://github.com/project-chip/connectedhomeip
It will be cheap: The software is freely available and works with a big audience. It's the same reason Android TVs from some manufacturers are cheap, the same will be the case for Matter lights and switches.
Multi-fabric: each Matter device is required to support 5 fabrics. A fabric is a Matter network. This means that you will be able to run multiple home automation controllers at the same time.
Read the rest
So when run into the limitations of Google Home or Apple Home, you can try out Home Assistant without taking down your old system.
Easy sharing of devices: Because of multi-fabric, it will be as easy as hitting a share button to get a device added to another fabric. See this example of Android https://twitter.com/home_assistant/status/157703612255503564...
Local: all communication for Matter is happening local between a device, a thread border router (if thread-based Matter), and the controller. Note that your controller can still decide to store your data in the cloud (ie Amazon, Google).
Supported by major systems: Amazon, Apple, Google and Home Assistant are all building the open source Matter code into their systems. It means that for manufacturers it will be easy to pick Matter as the protocol they want to support to reach most users.
Works over IP: Matter works over IP and doens't care how that IP-based device communicates. It means that you can have Wi-Fi based and Thread-based devices co-exist on your network. Thread is not required if you don't care about such devices.
Bridges are part of the standard: Devices like Philips Hue hubs are going to get an upgrade to expose all the Hue lights over Matter via the hub. This makes integrating a whole ecosystem at once into Matter very easy.
Thread: Thread is a mesh networking standard that connects to your Wi-Fi network via border routers. Where Zigbee and Z-Wave need to mesh communicate all the way to your controller, Thread messages will be delivered via Wi-Fi/ethernet as soon as possible. This means it is a lot more reliable and less traffic is going over the mesh. Expect cheap border routers (open source reference implementations) but also expect them in your future Wi-Fi routers, voice assistants, Wi-Fi connected TVs etc.
Paulus
/Founder Home Assistant
https://www.home-assistant.io
Yes! It's maintained by the members of the CSA alliance (which authors Matter). It means that Google, Apple and Home Assistant will all run the same controller code and benefit from bug fixes. Chip manufacturers like Espressif and Nordic maintain implementations for their boards in there too, so anyone can now have the software to produce Matter compatible light bulbs.
https://github.com/project-chip/connectedhomeip
In Matter – Protocol to connect compatible devices and systems with one anotherThe "Matter" (fka "Project Chip") IoT protocol (which succeeds OpenThread FWIU) Wikipedia SeeAlso links to CoAP. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matter_(standard)
What are the functional differences and opportunities in regards to name resolution?
Matter: https://github.com/project-chip/connectedhomeip
Are any of the "Certificate Transparency on a blockchain / dlt / immutable permissioned distributed ledger" approaches applicable to this problem domain? Solve DNS again for IoT?
In Securing name resolution in the IoT: DNS over CoAPNot sure about the OC's example, but there are a lot of examples in the matter SDK itself: https://github.com/project-chip/connectedhomeip/tree/master/...
In Explore Matter, the new smart home standard, in Home AssistantMy understanding is that the standard will be open when it's final, but the working draft is not. The reference implementation is open during development: https://github.com/project-chip/connectedhomeip
Disclaimer: not speaking for my employer or CSA/Matter (I have done paid work on the reference implementation).
In Explore Matter, the new smart home standard, in Home AssistantApple and Google want you to use Matter
1 points · Open discussionLink to the GitHub repo: https://github.com/project-chip/connectedhomeip
In Why Apple, Amazon and Google Are Uniting on Smart-Home Tech