- Posted on
Fri Nov 04, 2022 9:14 am
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jltnol
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- Posts: 998
- Joined: Oct 15, 2013
Like everyone, I've read with interest all the latest news concerning Matter and Thread. Just read today that Phillips will be upgrading their Hue system(or at least parts of it) to be compatible with the new protocol.
As I understand it, Thread is the sinew that connects all the devices together, and runs over IP, but may include Bluetooth in some instances. This seems like an improvement over both Z-Wave and certainly the Insteon communication standards, not to mention the ease of adding WiFi access points if/when/where needed.
Again, as I understand it, Matter is the spec that will allow all theses different devices to communicate with each other. I'm assuming at some point in the system, some software will be needed to control all these devices, and that may require some hardware to connect and control these devices as well.
Not to put the cart before the horse, but short of some special hardware, might it be possible for Indigo to develop a Matter/Thread plugin to communicate and control those devices? (No doubt a huge task) If true, I can easily see that Indigo Plugin development would only be needed for legacy devices... and God knows I've got a ton of them... but new devices would work thru the Matter/Thread plugin and eco system. ALL of my Indigo Devices will be "legacy" soon enough, and I doubt any/many of them will be able to to be upgraded to Thread/Matter, just continuing my dependance on Indigo for my happy automated life!
In the end, I've always maintained that Indigo is a very mature program.... pretty much totally bug free, very well "thought out", extremly easy for novices to use, and deep enough for extreme customization for more advanced users. All this stability and ease of use doesn't happen overnight, so I wouldn't expect anyone to overtake Indigo anytime soon. I look at Apple's HomeKit, and scoff at what I consider the lack of ability. Sure, some elementary automation is possible, but I just don't see HomeKit (or any other likewise system) ever gaining the available complexities that Indigo has now.
I think the future is bright!