If there’s something you want done around the house – turn the lights down and the music up, open the garage door, or get alerted if a stranger is prowling around your porch – there’s probably a product that can do it.

But sometimes, these smart devices don’t work well together. They can be challenging to set up, or they may require you to add additional gear to your Wi-Fi network. 

That’s beginning to change, thanks to two industry-wide standards: Matter and Thread. Developed by Google and more than a hundred other leading technology companies, Matter makes devices work together across major smart home systems, and Thread improves the connections between them.

Matter and Thread take away much of the confusion and frustration of smart home technology, extending the benefits to new users. 

“I bought my aging parents a smart speaker last year but they rarely use it,” says Sujata Neidig, vice president of marketing for Thread Group and marketing director at NXP Semiconductors. “They need a more intuitive home so they can continue to live independently, but without the frustration, cost, and confusion of setting up a smart home. They need things to just work. That’s what Matter and Thread do.”

Matter is a common language that allows smart home devices to communicate with each other, even if they aren’t made by the same company. As long as your new smart lock or thermostat carries the Matter logo, you can connect it to Matter-compatible platforms, apps, and assistants. And with just a few taps on your phone, you can add most devices to your home network, Google Home, and your favorite apps.^1,2

“You can think of it as a kind of universal translator,” says Jonathan Hui, vice president of technology for Thread Group and principal software engineer at Google. “With Matter, many of your smart home devices are now speaking the same language.”

Matter devices work alongside your other Works with Google Home devices, so you can create automations in Google Home to combine them in helpful ways.³ This means less time setting up your smart home, and more time enjoying it.^4,5

Thread is a way for Matter devices to communicate with one another faster, and from farther away. It complements your home Wi-Fi network, extending its reach and making it more reliable.  

Thread creates a mesh network in which each new smart home device, including many new bulbs, locks, and sensors, connects to the nearest one.² So if one device fails, another can step in to maintain the signal, allowing the network to heal itself. 

This lets smart devices respond more quickly to commands such as “Turn on the lights.” It also means they require less power to operate – letting things like smoke detectors, door locks, and motion sensors run for years without needing a new battery.⁵

Thread devices join your home network and connect to the internet through a Thread border router. Just as a Wi-Fi router can join Wi-Fi and Ethernet devices into a single network, a Thread border router allows Thread devices to become part of your network. Thread border routers are already built into Nest Wifi Pro, the second-gen Nest Hub, Nest Hub Max, the Google TV Streamer (4K), and the Google Home Speaker (coming in spring 2026).

Getting started is easier than you may think. Google Home automatically detects new devices and can connect them from the Home app on your phone or tablet.¹ And many of your favorite Google devices act as a hub for Matter.³ When you add a Matter device to Google Home, it connects to your Matter hub so you can control it whether you’re home or away.⁶ Once your devices are set up, the Google Home app lets you explore all the things they can do and use them to create automations that streamline your life.^7,8

So what can you do with Matter and Thread in your own home? The possibilities are endless. Thousands of Matter-enabled devices are already available, and more are rolling out all the time. Just look for the Matter logo.