This week’s release of Matter 1.1 is the result of the collective effort of hundreds of companies and individuals who have gathered as members of the Connectivity Standards Alliance and contributed to the ongoing progress and success of this evolving technology. Matter 1.1 creates an improved path forward for developers, and new user experiences, preparing for the next leg of Matter’s journey.
The updates in 1.1 make it easier for device makers and developers to get started with Matter, and to more easily certify products they’ve developed and get them to users faster. It features enhanced support for battery-operated devices — an important feature across many smart home categories.
One of the benefits and differentiators of Matter is its publicly available specification and open-source SDK that allows all developers to work from a common specification and code base. Of course, it’s important that those tools are easy to work with, so the Alliance has taken feedback and learning from members and early developers, and made clarifications and clean-up to the specification. This will make it easier for developers to dive in, understand, and use the specification. It’s also easier for developers to contribute to the Matter specification, with better guidance for contributing support for new device types.
When it comes time for testing and certifying the devices they’ve built, new enhancements to testing automation make it easier for device makers to pre-qualify their products and verify they will pass certification. This is also an improvement for Authorized Testing Laboratories (ATLs) with improved automation making testing more efficient and comprehensive.
Matter 1.1 enhances support for a category of devices that apply to many smart home products — Intermittently Connected Devices (ICDs). Sometimes called “sleepy devices,” these are typically battery-powered devices like contact, motion, and temperature sensors as well as door locks and switches that need to conserve power for optimal operation and lifespan. The additional support reduces the likelihood that a device will be reported as offline when users or platforms interact with it. These improvements mean developers will find it easier to optimize their products and create better user experiences.
These enhancements, now included in the Matter SDK and API, further the working group’s continuous goal of improving Matter products and the Matter developer experience.
Since the release of Matter 1.0 in October 2022, the Alliance has seen 17,991 downloads of the specification with 1,135 new products certified by the Alliance. Matter’s momentum has resulted in more than 60 members joining the Alliance since the specification’s release. These statistics demonstrate that Matter is well on the way to the future envisioned for the IoT, where Matter aims to solve problems for security, connectivity, innovation, complexity, and trust.
Developers interested in learning more about these enhancements can access the following resources:
Matter 1.1 specification
Matter 1.1 SDK Release
Alliance Opens New Interoperability Test Facility in Portland, Oregon
Further accelerating that future, the Alliance has announced the launch of its Interoperability Testing Facility (ITF) for Matter products. This facility provides interoperability testing services to members of the Alliance developing Matter products for certification. It includes an extensive range of Matter controllers, hubs, and end devices configured to check the most typical sets of devices and installation configurations found in residential settings.
Interop testing goes even further than the specification compliance testing performed for certification purposes. It enables checking of product behavior and user experience in real-life settings with a variety of different products, hubs, and controllers across different brands, and in various network configurations, including mobile apps and controller interactions, providing feedback to device, app, and platform makers, with a goal of enabling increased product quality and an improved user experience.
The ITF is located in Portland, Oregon, and is staffed by Alliance personnel. Members may utilize these facilities by booking slots to attend in person, witness interop testing, or send their products to be tested in their absence. To book a slot, please email your request to interop@csa-iot.org. The ITF also provides a testing environment for Zigbee products.
Moving Matter Forward
With this first post-launch release, our members have focused on making Matter easier to use and get products to market, and with the exciting launch of our ITF, supporting the continuous improvement of the experience users have with those products.
When Matter 1.0 was launched in the fall of 2022, the Alliance set a goal of a twice-yearly release cycle. The Alliance is actively working on the next version of Matter with new features and device type support, expected later this year.
MacDailyNews Note: As an open, industry standard, companies interested in bringing their ideas and device type support to Matter can join the Connectivity Standards Alliance and the Matter Working Group. Visit csa-iot.org to learn more about membership.
TGIF! Beloved interns, please do your duty and TTK
! Prost, everyone! 
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