Will matter finally be able to do what it was always meant to do?

Matter, the smart home interoperability standard, may finally get a feature that was meant to be there from day one: a single shared Matter network managed by multiple ecosystems. With this feature, called Joint Fabric, smart devices added to the network will be controlled by any approved platform — Apple Home, Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and the rest. No need to “share” your smart light between apps; Set it up once, control it everywhere. It’s as if your smart home is a shared bank account and all the platforms you choose have signing authority.

Joint tissue is part of New Article 1.6 Specifications Announced this week in Unificationthe inaugural Communications Standards Alliance conference in Austin, Texas. Although there are no new hardware types in the specifications, there are some quality of life updates.

There’s now support for a full NFC setup, eliminating the need to scan a QR code and letting you just tap to pair. With this, you can also pair the device before turning it on – which can be useful when installing smart lights or a wired smart switch.

Also new are Thermostat Suggestions, a standardized way for these devices to communicate across ecosystems. It allows the ecosystem to send a time-based “recommendation” that the thermostat can delay or adopt based on input from other platforms.

The idea here is that if you manually change the temperature on one platform, the thermostat will ignore the automatic request that arrives a few moments later. Additionally, Apple Home automation won’t bypass the utility savings program you’re enrolled in, and preferences like improving air quality will be recognized across services.

But back to that common fabric thing. Besides sporting a name that fits better with a 70s road trip movie than a smart home standard, Joint Fabric is designed to enhance one of the Matter’s core features, Multi-admin. This is where you should be able to set up a device in one smart home app and then use it on any other Matter-compatible platform.

Today, each ecosystem creates and manages its own network (called a fabric) and can share devices across it (in a cumbersome way). Joint Fabric creates a single Matter network that can all become co-signers for Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Samsung SmartThings, etc. You can add a device once, and it will appear across all supported ecosystems. You can also revoke this authority at any time without losing any of your devices.

This opens up a host of possibilities for unifying your smart home as Matter was originally intended. It’s part of Enhance multi-managementan ongoing effort to make the use of devices across multiple ecosystems more seamless.

Until now, it has been interoperability problems One of the biggest roadblocks the substance faces – Notable problem with the interoperability standard. That’s not to say the CSA didn’t address it; The problem is that platforms have been slow to fully adopt the new specifications, which can lead to incompatibility.

Setting up and managing a device seamlessly all at once, and having it automatically accessible and updated on any other platform, was something I thought would be part of Matter when it launched in 2022. When the first specs arrived, I was disappointed To learn that this wasn’t how it would work. At the time, I was told that the substance didn’t work that way because… The platform makers didn’t want that. Four years later, has this situation changed?

There was a similar attempt again Issue 1.4 In 2024 It’s called Fabric Sync, which allows devices set up in one ecosystem to be shared with another with just one authorization. But each platform still runs its own separate network. At the time, the CSA told me that all the big players They were actively involved in developing this solutionIt was expected to be implemented within the next year. It’s 2026, and we’re still waiting.

Joint Fabric feels like a much bigger ask than Fabric Sync, effectively taking control away from platforms and putting it where it should be: in your hands. My hopes are not high that this will see rapid adoption either. I’ll be attending CSA’s Unify conference in Austin this week, and I plan to ask ecosystems about their timeline for implementing Joint Fabric.