Samsung and Google announce partnership on cross-platform compatibility for smart devices | Digit

On October 13, 2022, South Korean tech giant Samsung announced its partnership with the Alphabet-owned Google “to elevate smart home experiences.” As a part of the partnership, the companies are working towards making it easier to control smart home devices made by different makers. Samsung and Google have achieved the same by developing the Matter protocol, which acts as a bridge between the Google Home and Samsung SmartThings devices. 

How does the Matter protocol co-developed by Samsung and Google work?

As the Matter protocol comes in place, users opening the SmartThings app will get information about the Matter-enabled devices initially set up with Google Home. Then, users can easily onboard those devices to SmartThings app, and the same is true for Google Home. Essentially, this eliminates the cross-platform compatibility limitations that prevailed and allows users to experience an open ecosystem wherein devices manufactured by different companies support each other. 

As stated by Samsung, the Matter protocol will be rolled out in the coming weeks. It will be helpful for people who own a few smart home devices manufactured by different companies. Once it is rolled out, users won’t have to worry about which smart device they should purchase. Previously, one had to check the maker, the supported app, and the ecosystem before investing in a smart home device. 

The multi-admin feature seems to be the key highlight of the new Matter protocol

In the official press release, Samsung mentions that “Matter standard’s multi-admin capabilities provide the foundation for connecting devices directly to multiple apps and ecosystems, giving consumers more flexibility and choice.” Further, the company adds that it is building on “multi-admin, allowing users to seamlessly find, choose to connect and control Matter-enabled devices through SmartThings or Google Home apps on Android.”