WiZ smart light bulb update supports Matter protocol and is compatible with Apple Home

CTOnews.com, May 2 (Xinhua)-- smart lighting company WiZ released Matter protocol support for smart light bulbs, lights and plugs at the end of April, making them compatible with Apple's Home smart home ecosystem for the first time. So far, the update seems to apply only to North American users, HomeKitNews said.

The new application WiZ v2 supports accessories made in or after early 2021 and allows users to migrate products to the new smart home standard, which can then be added to any Matter-compliant platform, including Apple's Home.

Users of existing WiZ products need to make sure that they are using the latest version of the WiZ application and that they use the latest product firmware. In the application, go to Settings-> Integration-> Matter, and then follow the steps to get new Matter support for each device.

The updated WiZ products that support Matter will also be used with Google Home, Amazon Alexa and Samsung SmartThings over the Wi-Fi network, rather than relying on cloud connectivity as before.

So far, the only way to use WiZ bulbs with HomeKit devices is to use Siri shortcut instructions or unofficially use solutions such as HomeBridge. WiZ is owned by Signify, which also owns Philips Hue, where the more expensive brands have deferred Matter compatibility updates.

CTOnews.com Note: Matter is an Internet of things standard designed to improve the interoperability of smart devices between brands, so HomeKit devices can work with other smart home devices from Google, Amazon, and other companies. Matter works through Wi-Fi and Thread, Wi-Fi allows smart home devices to communicate with the cloud, and Thread provides an energy-efficient and reliable mesh network at home.