Google’s Nest thermostat is now Matter compatible, also works with Apple Home

Recently on the Nest Community website, it was announced that the new smart home connectivity standard, Matter, will now be supported on Google Nest Thermostat. Over the next few weeks, you’ll be able to change the temperature of your device and home as well as adjust other controls with smart home platforms that work with Matter other than just Nest.

Great news! We’re rolling out Matter compatibility for our newest Nest Thermostat released in 2020. This means you can now adjust the temp and change your thermostat’s mode with multiple Matter-certified smart home platforms and apps.

If your Nest Thermostat hasn’t received this update just yet, don’t worry — Matter compatibility will be rolling out to Nest Thermostat over the next few weeks, starting April 18.

Google Nest Community

According to The Verge, which tested the thermostat with Apple Home, it also works in this configuration if you have an iPhone and iOS 16.4. Of course, if you’re rocking any of the older Nest Thermostats like the Learning Thermostat or E model, you’re out of luck – this update is only going to focus on the newest model shipped in 2020.

If you’re wondering what the heck Matter even is and why it even…matters, let me catch you up. Matter is a new smart home platform that allows many different devices from many different, competing manufacturers to play nice together for the end user thanks to an open-source set of standardized protocols. Matter’s magic comes from its ability to let users add new devices to their smart homes with just a few taps while putting control in one app’s hands. No more juggling different applications or stressing over compatibility issues out of the box or otherwise. This ties it all together in one neat package.

Imagine adding a new smart light bulb to your home – just scan its QR code with your phone, and Matter takes care of the rest. How about controlling a Samsung SmartThings light bulb with a Google Home smart speaker – yeah, it’s now possible, thanks to Matter’s knack for bridging the gap between different products. Oh, and apparently, Matter is much more secure against hacking, so there’s that, but I’ve never had anyone hack my smart lights to prank me or anything.

All jokes aside, this is important for cameras more than anything, so it’s a nice added bonus for the transition. At the end of the day, the arrival of Matter marks a huge step forward for the smart home industry (which is now mature enough to need it), paving the way for more affordable, secure, and user-friendly devices that don’t take a tech specialist to set up. With Google’s Nest Thermostat now compatible, I’m willing to bet the new smart home platform gets more attention now than it did since its launch.