Smart lighting company WiZ has rolled out Matter support to its smart bulbs, lamps, and plugs, making them compatible with Apple Home for the first time (via HomeKitNews).
The new app, WiZ v2, brings support to accessories that were manufactured in early 2021 or later, and lets users migrate products to the new smart home standard, after which they can be added to any Matter-compatible platform, including Apple Home.
Existing WiZ product owners need to make sure they have the latest version of the WiZ app from the App Store and that their product firmware is up to date. In the app, go to Settings -> Integrations -> Matter, and then follow the steps to get new Matter codes for individual devices.
WiZ products that are updated to support Matter will also work with Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and Samsung SmartThings over a Wi-Fi network, rather than relying on a cloud connection, as was previously the case.
Up until now, the only way to get WiZ lights to work with HomeKit devices was by using Siri Shortcuts or non-officially using a workaround like HomeBridge. WiZ is owned by Signify, which also owns Philips Hue, but the latter, more expensive brand has had its Matter compatibility update delayed.
Matter is an internet of things standard that is designed to improve interoperability of smart devices between brands, so HomeKit devices can work with other smart home devices from Google, Amazon, and others. Matter works over Wi-Fi and Thread, with Wi-Fi allowing smart home devices to communicate with the cloud and Thread offering an energy efficient and reliable mesh network in the home.
Update: HomeKitNews says the update appears to only be for North American users so far, but we've yet to see confirmation whether this is the case.
