Two years after announcing support, Ikea’s Dirigera hub can now be updated to act as a bridge between Ikea’s smart home devices and Matter-enabled systems. The software update builds upon early beta support by letting Ikea’s entire lineup of Zigbee-based smart home devices — like lights, blinds, controllers, air purifiers, and sensors — communicate with Matter-enabled devices from any company. 

Bridging support for existing devices to Matter is a small but significant step in Ikea’s plan to fully support the new smart home protocol. It’s the same tepid approach Philips Hue has taken but hopefully with better results. Other companies like Aqara have more fully embraced the standard by launching native Matter devices that don’t require bridges to do the protocol translation.

Ikea’s smart home hubs have always featured custom integrations that have allowed its products to communicate with setups from Apple, Google, and Amazon. “With Matter, we are expanding these possibilities even further,” says David Granath, range manager at Ikea of Sweden. “Combining our decades of life at home expertise with innovative technology, we believe we are uniquely positioned to lower the barriers and enable a smarter everyday life for more people.” 

Matter support for Dirigera is available in every location where the hub is sold.