Matter 1.6 is here. Your smart-home hub is probably still on 1.3
The CSA announced Matter 1.6 at Unify in June: easier setup, Joint Fabric for multi-platform homes. Platforms are implementing on their own clocks.
The Connectivity Standards Alliance used its Unify event in June to announce Matter 1.6, the latest version of the smart-home interoperability standard backed by Apple, Google, Amazon and Samsung. The headline themes: more intuitive setup, multi-ecosystem experiences through a new feature called Joint Fabric (one home network any Matter platform can control), and context-driven control.
By the CSA’s own numbers, reported by The Verge, Matter now covers most mainstream device types — including, finally, security cameras — with more than 1,200 unique certified products and 940 member companies, around 300 of them actively working on the spec.
The gap homeowners actually live in
The spec is ahead of the platforms. The Verge noted that Apple, Google and Amazon were “barely at 1.3,” a version that came out two years earlier; Samsung SmartThings has committed to adopting new versions within six months. An independent status review in January found many ecosystems still at Matter 1.2 or 1.3 in practice, and that the Thread Group now certifies new border routers only on Thread 1.4. A Matter badge tells you the device speaks the language; it does not tell you which version your hub understands today.
The practical advice is unglamorous: check your platform’s supported-features page (and its date) before you buy, give Thread devices a Thread 1.4 border router, and treat anything with a lock or a camera as an install decision rather than an app setting.
Sources
- CSA — Matter 1.6 announcement (2026)
- The Verge — Matter at Unify 2026 (June 27, 2026)
- matter-smarthome.de — The Matter standard in 2026: a status review (Jan 3, 2026)
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