The smart home is the consumer face of IoT. Devices from many brands talk over Wi-Fi, Zigbee, Thread or Bluetooth and are coordinated by a hub, a voice assistant or a cloud service. Automation ranges from a simple schedule for lights to presence-based heating and leak detection that shuts a valve.
The long-standing problem has been fragmentation: each ecosystem had its own app and devices rarely worked together. Matter is the industry’s attempt to fix that with a common application layer. Privacy and dependence on vendor clouds are the other open issues; local-first platforms such as Home Assistant appeal to people who want control without an internet round trip. The guide The smart home, explained compares ecosystems and protocols.
Part of the IoT Glossary. Spotted an error or a missing term? Tell us.