Pair Matter Accessories without a Hub

Add and control Wi-Fi-based Matter accessories locally in the Home app without needing a home hub. Thread-based accessory management is available with iPhone 15 Pro and later.

There’s an endnote that relates to this, which states:

What exactly does this mean? This was my first question when I was sent a link by Dawid Olczak from the Polish smart home company Luon, whose product launch we recently posted about. Essentially, with iOS 18, or possibly a later update, you will be able to pair a Matter-over-WiFi device to your smart home without needing a Matter Controller. For Matter-over-Thread devices, it's slightly different. In iOS 17, you would need a Thread Border Router and a Matter Controller (e.g., HomePod Mini) to add a Matter-over-Thread device. However, with an iPhone 15 or the soon-to-be-released iPhone 16, you can add a Thread device directly to Apple Home since these models include a Thread Radio.

Prior to Thread and Matter in Apple HomeKit, this was already the case for WiFi and Bluetooth-compatible devices. Your phone or iPad had the necessary capabilities. However, without an Apple Home Hub, you couldn’t create automations or set up remote access. For example, you couldn’t use a Bluetooth smart button to control a WiFi smart bulb without a home hub, though it might be possible in a manufacturer's app with devices from the same brand. This update doesn't change that necessity, so home hubs are still very much needed.

A major difference from the pre-Matter setup is that if your home hub was disconnected, you could still control WiFi devices (as they’re on the same network) and Bluetooth devices once reconnected to your phone/iPad. Since Apple Home became a Matter platform, if the Matter Controller (Apple TV, HomePod, HomePod Mini) was offline, Matter devices couldn't be controlled. With this update, Matter devices can still be accessed and controlled directly, even if the Matter Controller isn't connected.

So, local control is improved, especially if you already have a Matter Controller, but you might wonder what the point is otherwise. For newcomers to smart homes, especially those using Apple products, this update allows them to set up Matter-over-Thread devices with just their iPhone, even if they initially don’t have a Matter Controller/Home Hub. However, without a Matter Controller, the button and bulb can’t communicate with each other. Once they understand the benefits of having a Thread Border Router/Matter Controller/Home Hub, they can purchase one, but the initial setup remains unaffected.

This suggests that while the Thread radio in iPhone 15 & 16 is primarily for simplified setups, Thread could potentially replace Bluetooth for direct communication between your phone and a Thread device. This has been why Bluetooth remains relevant, particularly for smart locks, as it has been the only way to establish a direct connection between phone and device.

One final point to note is the last sentence in the endnote from Apple: “Thread-enabled devices are able to locally pair and manage Thread accessories, which may require an update from the accessory manufacturer.”

While this update represents a step forward, it is also dependent on the manufacturers enabling such functionality in their Thread devices.

Thanks to Dawid Olczak for providing context and better understanding of this update.