Matter is making a move into home security. The industry group behind the smart home standard has finally expanded its 1.5 spec to include native support for cameras, addressing an ordeal and resulting in simpler setup, broader interoperability, and more consistent performance between different ecosystems like Apple Home, Google Home, Alexa, SmartThings, and Home Assistant.
An initiative of the Connectivity Standards Alliance, Matter’s central goal is to ensure devices from various companies can work well together within a home network. Cameras have been the open hole in that vision. With 1.5, the standard has at last swept in video devices — doorbells, indoor and outdoor cams, floodlight cameras — with them joining the party for unified automation and control without a nested mess of one-off apps and cloud dependencies.
The Critique of Native Camera Support in Matter
Security cameras are some of the most purchased smart home devices, yet also one of the least unified. Most households are working with a proprietary app per brand, along with the coping costs of cloud recording, and advanced features feeding recurring subscription fees. Standardization provides a way out: one onboarding flow, universal controls, and a reliable approach to surface motion events, doorbell presses, and privacy modes consistently across platforms.
It does matter for privacy and resilience as well. Matter is first designed for local control, so the main interactions can proceed even if a vendor’s cloud encounters turbulence. While vendors will continue to distinguish themselves with cloud services, a standard baseline shrinks lock-in and lowers the barrier for mixing and matching brands in the home.
What’s New in Matter 1.5 for Smart Home Cameras
Matter 1.5 adds a formal device type for cameras and explains how to discover, commission, and control these devices in a multi-platform home. Look for standardized capabilities for starting live view, notifications of events, and basic configuration to ensure a consistent user experience whether controlling your camera via the phone, smart display, or TV app.
One practical note: while low-power ecosystems like Thread are ideal for a sensor or switch, video is bandwidth-hungry. Most Matter-enabled cameras in the wild will probably be using Wi-Fi or Ethernet for streaming with Thread (or Matter’s data model) taking control, status, and automation. That hybrid strategy means that latency remains low for notifications while live video streams remain resilient.
The update also streamlines definition of the data model for ‘closures’ — garage doors, shades, and blinds, primarily — offering a cleaner and more consistent common interface to handle open/close logic.
Look for fewer oddities when mixing brands, though, and a more uniform feel across apps and voice assistants.
What It Means for Big Platforms and Brands
The camera addition is a bridge, for platform owners, between what was once siloed worlds. That doesn’t mean that Apple’s HomeKit Secure Video, Google’s Nest ecosystem, and Amazon’s Ring and Blink will become competitors on the AI detection, storage, and subscription bundles they offer on top—but the base level for setup and control can start to converge under Matter. That helps protect consumers from the “choose once and stay forever” trap that has plagued smart home security for a decade.
Manufacturers benefit, too. A camera shipping with Matter can day-one target multiple ecosystems, making it cheaper and simpler to be compatible with a variety of APIs. Look for early movers from multi-protocol players, and DIY-friendly brands as well as firmware updates for existing hardware where chipsets and memory permit. Bridging solutions could arrive first with native deployments as the spec matures and certification scales.
Beyond Cameras: Soil Sensors and Smarter Closures
Matter 1.5 doesn’t just end with video. The new class for soil sensors allows for accurate automated irrigation based on temperature and moisture. That’s none too soon: The US EPA-sponsored WaterSense program estimates that outdoor watering can waste 50% of what it uses due to inefficiencies. With standardized soil data, controllers could water only when necessary, which saves money and helps meet local conservation goals.
There are also changes under the hood for how network data is handled and energy management primitives, which are the types of incremental changes that result in fewer edge-case bugs and more reliable automations. Developers receive clearer guidance; users have a more stable, predictable base.
What Readers Should Watch Next as Matter 1.5 Rolls Out
Rollouts will happen in stages. Expect updates with respect to the SDK and certification list from the Connectivity Standards Alliance, firmware from camera makers, and announcements of platforms. At first, compatibility matrices are going to be important — things like advanced analytics or cloud recording (or the quantity of multi-day history) will still depend on brand and subscription even as day-one setup and control gets simpler.
If you’re planning a DIY setup, make sure your home already has a Matter controller and, for devices within Thread networks, a border router. Cameras will generally rely on Wi-Fi for video, so a robust network and strategically placed access points are still key. As manufacturers adopt 1.5, unified routines such as “Arm Away” will likely enroll cameras, lights, locks, and shades in a single scene regardless of brand.
While Matter’s camera support isn’t going to immediately blur the lines between ecosystems, it does eliminate one of the biggest barriers. With one benchmark for discovery, control, and events, the smartest camera you buy next year should be whichever type meets your needs — not which one is compatible with your Febreze app.
