Big question around Matter! (and Homey Pro)
For a new project (big villa), do you recommend to setup all the Aqara Devices with the official Aqara Hub, then to connect the hub with Matter to Homey ?
I am wondering, because of Matter, if this is not a better idea than using the Homey Aquara App.
(pros: no compatibility issues, better support, same ecosystem, dedicated network, etc…).
I can"t make a choice with the new Homey Pro capabilities! Thanks for helping me.
The question is what you like to achieve. Two concerns.
Matter specification compliance of features.
basic functionality (as per matter spec) you are free to choose either approach
for non-standard functionality (e.g. energy meter) you have to wait until a matter-compatible homey app exists, or use the aqara hub, or do not use the functionality. Of course we could also wait until a next version of Matter starts supporting the missing device capabilities.
When will the matter support be implemented and when do you plan your villa to be delivered? If is not in the current firmware, nor in many/most/all? current aqara devices as far as I can assess at present.
Thanks for the quick answer @RogerSt !
The villa will be delivered in 1.5 years, then Matter will be implemented in Homey for sure (I hope ^^). I am wondering if Homey will recommend to keep a dedicated Hub per brand (Aqara, Tuya, Philips, …) and link everything thanks to Matter. Maybe the app marketplace will die.
This is a good question @Etienne_Cointet, so I have moved it to its own thread in the Q&A section.
Im in a similar boat, (maybe not too similar as its just a house and not a villa), and considering how to best approach everything with out locking myself out.
My plan is to make sure I have a good wired backbone of power and ethernet, (ie. power for roller binds, all in one sensors, presence sensors, outdoor cameras, door bells, light), backhaul wires for wifi mesh, locations for hubs etc.
But then worry about the actual implementation when it gets much closer, I am thinking 6 months out.
I don’t believe the marketplace will die. It is what makes Homey versatile, future-proof and easy to use.
As long as device capabilities exist which are not covered under the Matter standard, there is really no other way of getting full-featured device support on Homey - or any other generic smart home hub for that matter (pun intended ), and we would be stuck with basic/standard control only.
To give some context, if you experienced the usage of TUYA devices, it’s the similar approach.
Any device « tuya ready » is categorized and all commands are similar (switch, status, …). If not, thanks to Tuya Cloud, you can rewrite the commands to make any non-standard device compatible.
I am impressed by Tuya + Homebridge, and looking for the same approach Matter + Homey.
), and we would be stuck with basic/standard control only.
