Matter adds support for microwave ovens, smart lighting scenes

The budding Matter smart home standard just added a slew of new features today, including the ability to take charge of smart ovens, cooktops, leak and freeze detectors, and water valves.  

Even better, Matter can now handle smart lighting scenes for individual bulbs or even a roomful of lights, and it can also pass along details about the power usage of connected devices. 

The new features and functionality come in version 1.3 of the Matter specification, which was released on Wednesday by the Matter Working Group of the Connectivity Standards Alliance.  

While the expanded device types and features are now officially part of the Matter standard, it’s up to smart home manufacturers to implement the revised specification across their upcoming and existing products. 

Among the new device types supported in version 1.3 of the Matter specification are kitchen cooking appliances, such as standard and microwave ovens, cooktops, and extractor hoods. 

Once implemented by appliance manufacturers, Matter 1.3 will allow users to control the cooking time and power of microwave ovens, adjust the oven mode (such as convection bake, roast, steam, or broil) and temperature setting of conventional ovens, gain remote access and control of cooktops, and tweak the light and fan settings for cooker and vent hoods. 

Laundry dryers are also supported under Matter 1.3, meaning users will be able to change the dryer mode, set target temperatures, and remotely start or stop the dryer (subject to local regulations). Laundry washers were added as a device type in the Matter 1.2 specification. 

Another key addition to the Matter specification is support for a wide range of water-management devices, including leak and freeze detectors, rain sensors, and smart water valves. 

Matter 1.3 also allows smart devices to report how much energy they’re consuming, handy for smart home users looking to cut down on their power bills. 

Even better, Matter will finally be able to control smart lighting scenes, an addition that greatly expands the way Matter works. 

In previous versions, Matter only exposed the most rudimentary control for smart lights, namely brightness and color temperature. If you created a scene that changed color and brightness settings for a group of lights, you could only trigger the scene within the manufacturer’s app. 

With Matter 1.3, those lighting scenes will be available within Matter controller apps, thus cutting down on the need to juggle apps when dealing with complex smart lighting setups. 

Other improvements in the Matter 1.3 specification include support for electric vehicle charging, the ability to “batch” multiple commands into a single message (resulting in a more “synchronized” response when controlling multiple devices at once), and more Matter Casting functionality, including the ability for other Matter-enabled devices to send alerts to a TV screen. 

Matter has gradually been adding supported device types since the standard first launched back in fall 2022. 

Last October, Matter 1.2 rolled out support for refrigerators, stand-alone room air conditioners, dishwashers, laundry washers, robot vacuums, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, air quality sensors, air purifiers, and fans.   

The initial Matter standard included smart lights, HVAC controls, smart window coverings and shades, security sensors, door locks, smart TVs, and smart bridges.   

One key smart home category that still isn’t part of the Matter standard is security cameras, and there’s still no word on when they’ll be added to the Matter specification.