What is Matter?
Matter is a universal smart home protocol that lets devices from different manufacturers work together in one app — Apple Home, Google Home, Amazon Alexa, or Samsung SmartThings. It's backed by Apple, Google, Amazon, Samsung, and hundreds of other companies.
For Atios users, Matter is how your KNX or DALI installation shows up in the smart home app you already use on your phone.
The problem Matter solves
Before Matter, smart home devices spoke different languages:
- KNX — the professional wired bus used in high-end and commercial installations
- DALI — the lighting-specific control protocol
- Zigbee, Z-Wave, Wi-Fi — various consumer wireless protocols
These systems couldn't talk to each other. A KNX switch couldn't control a Philips Hue light, and each product needed its own app.
Matter changes that. It acts as a common language, so devices from every corner of the market end up in the same smart home app.
Key concepts
There are three terms worth knowing before you set things up.
Matter Controller
A device that manages your Matter network and provides the user interface (the app you use). Controllers are usually platform-specific — for example, an Apple HomePod works with Apple Home; a Google Nest Hub works with Google Home.
Common controllers:
- Apple — HomePod, HomePod Mini, Apple TV 4K
- Google — Nest Hub, Nest Hub Max, Nest Wifi Pro
- Amazon — Echo (4th gen+), Echo Hub, Echo Show 8
- Samsung — SmartThings Station, SmartThings Hub
Matter Bridge
A device that translates non-Matter protocols (KNX, DALI, Zigbee, Z-Wave) into Matter, making those devices visible to a Matter Controller. A bridge doesn't provide a user interface — you still need a controller.
Atios KNX Bridge and Atios SmartCore are Matter Bridges. They expose your KNX or DALI installation to whichever Matter ecosystem you choose.
Multi-Admin
Matter supports connecting the same devices to multiple controllers simultaneously. Your lights can appear in both Apple Home and Google Home — you can ask Siri to turn them off from your iPhone while someone else uses Google Assistant on a Nest Hub. Both apps control the same devices independently.
Automations and scenes don't transfer between platforms, though — if you build a "Good Morning" scene in Apple Home, you'd recreate it separately in Google Home.
How Matter communicates
Matter works over three channels:
- Wi-Fi — wireless, via your home network
- Ethernet — wired, via your router or switch
- Thread — low-power wireless mesh used by battery-powered sensors and smaller devices
Atios devices use Wi-Fi or Ethernet, not Thread — so you don't need a Thread Border Router.
Key benefits
- Local control — devices communicate directly on your home network. No cloud dependency for basic control; your home keeps working when the internet is down.
- End-to-end encryption — Matter traffic is encrypted between devices.
- Cross-platform — works with Apple Home, Google Home, Alexa, and SmartThings. You pick the ecosystem.
- Shared access — invite family members through your app; no extra registration.
- Future-proof — Matter is an open standard with regular updates and new device categories. Anything you buy later (cameras, locks, vacuums, speakers) that speaks Matter will integrate with your existing setup.
How Atios fits in
Your Atios device bridges one side (KNX or DALI) to the other (Matter):
- Atios KNX Bridge — a KNX installation becomes controllable in Matter apps. Brings 3 functions into one DIN-rail device: Matter Bridge, KNX IP Interface, and KNX-DALI Gateway.
- Atios SmartCore — a standalone controller with 12 relay outputs, 12 digital inputs, and a DALI-2 master. Wire it up, configure via the web interface, scan the Matter QR.
In your smart home app, Atios-bridged devices live alongside any Matter-compatible devices you add later — sound systems, cameras, smart plugs, door locks — all in the same app, all controllable together.