Smart home news, reviews, and guides — making your home smarter.
Smart home news, reviews, and guides — making your home smarter.
Apple’s $349.95 LG Smart Deadbolt Lock and LG Temperature Sensor require a Thread-enabled Apple Home hub, and not every Apple TV 4K qualifies. This guide lists which Apple home hubs support Thread, explains the Wi-Fi-only Apple TV 4K catch, and shows how to check your active hub in the Home app before the Apple Home Collection launches in December.
Read MoreApple has reportedly teamed with LG on seven smart home devices — a video doorbell, smart lock, thermostat, cameras and sensors — all supporting Matter and Thread. Here is what Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says about the LG-branded lineup, the FCC filings, the slipped timeline, and what it means for Apple’s smart home push.
Read MorePhilips Hue is rolling out firmware 1.164.2 for its newest lights, adding Matter 1.4.1 support and a long-promised feature: Zigbee and Matter over Thread running at the same time. The update covers 2026 models plus late-2025 E27 and GU10 bulbs, so you no longer have to choose between the Hue Bridge and a direct Thread connection. Here’s what the concurrency update changes for your smart lighting setup.
Read MoreOnvis has released an outdoor smart plug built on Matter over Thread, with real-time energy monitoring, IP65 weather resistance, and an 1800W rating. The plug works natively with Apple Home, Alexa, Google Home, and SmartThings with no vendor hub required, making it one of the most practical Matter accessory launches of the season.
Read MoreEve Systems has launched its first Android app, Eve for Matter, on the Google Play Store — more than two years after first announcing it. The app gives Android users access to Eve’s custom features beyond the Matter baseline, starting with the new Matter-over-Thread Eve Thermo smart radiator valve (€79.99) through Google Home. Here’s what the app does, why it took so long, and what’s next for Alexa and SmartThings support.
Read MoreFirst leaked images reveal LG’s smart deadbolt, thermostat and temperature sensor co-developed with Apple. FCC filings confirm Thread, Matter and UWB support, including auto-unlock on approach. The seven-device lineup is expected to debut alongside Apple’s smart home hub on October 13.
Read MoreApple is reportedly teaming up with LG on a lineup of smart home accessories — a wired video doorbell, smart deadbolt lock, thermostat, temperature sensor, and indoor, outdoor, and floodlight cameras — built with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Thread, and Matter, with UWB on the lock for proximity unlocking. The LG-branded devices would expand the ecosystem around Apple’s upcoming home hub, expected October 13.
Read MoreThe Connectivity Standards Alliance has released Matter 1.6.1, a maintenance update that finalizes Groupcast for faster, synchronized group control and adds separate volume and mute controls for doorbell chimes. Here is what changes, why your lights will react together, and when platforms will catch up.
Read MoreIKEA’s 21-device Matter lineup has pushed smart home prices to new lows, with a color bulb at 9 pounds and sensors at 7 pounds. But pairing failures, devices dropping offline, and weak owner ratings show that the ecosystem’s biggest challenge is reliability, not price.
Read MoreUGREEN’s HomeAgent is a local AI smart home hub with the on-device Uliya LLM, Matter and Thread support, plus NAS and camera NVR storage — no cloud subscriptions. Pre-orders are open at $899 ahead of an October 27 Kickstarter, with shipping in 2027. Here’s what the HA100, HA100 Pro, and MasterAgent MA100 offer.
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