Google’s new Matter protocol lets you control smart homes offline

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Remember when your smart home was about as reliable as your ex’s promises? Well, Google just dropped a bomb that might actually fix that.

They’ve finally done what we’ve been begging for: adding proper local control to Google Home hubs. And no, this isn’t another half-baked feature – they’re going all in.

In a move that’s somehow both incredibly obvious and embarrassingly overdue, Google announced this week that your smart home stuff can now work without playing ping-pong with their servers first.

It’s all thanks to something called Matter, which is basically the USB-C of smart home protocols (except this time, everyone’s actually on board).

Here’s the real kicker: your smart home devices can now work entirely offline.

Yup, your lights will still turn on even when your internet is having its weekly existential crisis. It’s almost like that’s how lights should have worked all along. Wild concept, right?

But wait, there’s more (and it’s actually good news for once). Google is opening the gates to its smart home kingdom, giving developers access to over 600 million connected devices through its new APIs.

Translation? Your favorite apps can now control your Google Home devices directly instead of doing that awkward dance through Google’s app first.

The update comes with three major pieces:

1. Device and Structure APIs: Think of it as your smart home’s new universal remote. One integration gets you access to literally hundreds of millions of devices. And yes, it works with both cloud-connected gear and these fancy new Matter devices.
2. Commissioning API: Remember how setting up smart home devices was about as fun as a root canal? Google’s Fast Pair system now works across 3 billion Android devices. Set up once, and boom – it just works. (At least, that’s what they’re promising. We’ll believe it when we see it.)
3. Automation API: This is where things get spicy. Developers can now bake Google’s AI-powered automation straight into their apps. This is like giving your smart home a brain transplant, except this time, it might actually be smarter.

The real story here isn’t just about Google playing nice with Matter – it’s about them finally admitting that maybe, just maybe, we shouldn’t need to phone home to Mountain View every time we want to turn on our bedroom lights.

Local control means faster response times and fewer “Sorry, something went wrong” messages that make you want to throw your phone through a window.

For the nerds keeping score at home, this is all part of the public developer beta that Google teased at I/O 2024.

Companies like Hisense and Aqara are already showing off what they can do with these new tools at CES 2025, which means we should start seeing actual products hitting the market faster than you can say, “Hey Google.”

Is this the smart home revolution we’ve been waiting for? Maybe. Will it fix every annoying quirk about your connected gadgets? Probably not.

But hey, at least now, when your internet goes down, you won’t have to break out the emergency candles to find your way to the bathroom.

Welcome to 2025, where your smart home might finally be smart enough to work without asking Google for permission first. Better late than never, right?

What do you think about Google’s move to bring offline control to smart homes? Are you excited about the potential for faster response times and fewer connectivity issues, or do you think there’s still more to be done? We’d love to hear your thoughts! Drop a comment below.

Kevin Raposo

Kevin is KnowTechie's founder and executive editor. With over 15 years of blogging experience in the tech industry, Kevin has transformed what was once a passion project into a full-blown tech news publication. Shoot him an email at kevin@knowtechie.com.