If you have been in the smart home world for any length of time, you may have some older gear that doesn’t support Matter, such as older Zigbee sensors, Z-Wave thermostats, and IR remotes for ceiling fans, etc. They all work fine, but they live outside your HomeKit setup. That is why this new update from Homey caught my attention. They are rolling out a new Matter Bridge app for Homey Pro and Homey Pro mini, and it gives HomeKit users a way to pull a huge range of non-Matter accessories right into the Home app as if they were native devices.
HomeKit Weekly is a series focused on smart home accessories, automation tips and tricks, and everything to do with Apple’s smart home framework.
What does the Homey experience bring?
Homey is one of those smart home hubs that tries to do a lot of things at once without forcing you to pick a single ecosystem. It supports a wide range of devices across Zigbee, Z-Wave, infrared, Thread, Matter, Wi-Fi, and more, depending on the model you have. The idea behind Homey is that you bring all your smart home gear into one place, regardless of whether it comes from different brands or protocols. Homey handles device connections and automations, and then you can control everything through the Homey app or expose it to other platforms, such as HomeKit, through Matter. It is basically a universal translator for smart home devices that do not naturally speak the same language. In my head, it’s similar to HomeBridge, but in a commercially supported setting.
What the Matter Bridge app actually does
The new Homey Matter Bridge app is essentially a translator for old gear to Matter. Homey already supports a wide range of protocols, including Zigbee, Z-Wave, IR, 433 MHz, Thread, and Matter. With this new app, anything that Homey Pro or Homey Pro mini can control can now be exposed to HomeKit, Google Home, Amazon Alexa, Samsung SmartThings, or Home Assistant as a Matter-native device. For Apple users, this means that devices not designed initially with HomeKit in mind can now be integrated into the Home app alongside your other devices.
This integration is not cloud-based control either. The primary benefit of Homey is that automations and communication occur locally. That is great for speed and keeps your smart home gear running even if your internet goes out. The Matter Bridge app continues that trend by exposing accessories to Matter controllers in a secure and fast way.
Why HomeKit users should care
Many people who have been building smart homes for more than a few years have perfectly good gear that does not support Matter. Perhaps you have Z-Wave door sensors, Zigbee light switches, or an IR-based fan that you picked up on a deep discount, etc. With this update, all of that hardware can now connect and appear in the Home app, allowing you to use it in your scenes and automations.
HomeKit users who prefer to keep everything in one interface can now control these devices through Home, Siri, Control Center, and automations. You can take an old IR-controlled fan, add it to Homey, and have it appear in the Home app as a Matter device. The same applies to blinds, outlets, thermostats, sensors, or almost anything else that Homey supports. It is the closest we have been to true whole-home interoperability without replacing older equipment.
Where this fits in a HomeKit setup
Once you install the Matter Bridge app inside Homey, you go to Settings and tap the Matter Bridge section. Homey will generate a QR code that you scan using Apple Home. From there, you choose which devices connected to Homey you want to expose to the HomeKit. Within a few minutes, Matter devices will appear inside your HomeKit setup.
The nice part is that you can pick only the devices you want. If something is better suited to Homey only, you can leave it out. If you want to expose your Z-Wave blinds, contact sensors, and IR-controlled fan in HomeKit, you can do so.
Since this update is compatible with both Homey Pro and the smaller Homey Pro mini, you have options depending on your home setup. Homey already supports Zigbee, Thread, and Matter locally. By adding the Homey Bridge, you also gain access to Z-Wave, Bluetooth, and infrared capabilities. That means Homey becomes the hardware layer, and the Matter Bridge app becomes the pathway for HomeKit to see those devices.
A few examples where this can be a huge upgrade for HomeKit users:
- Old Z-Wave contact sensors that you still trust
- Zigbee light switches in a room that you do not want to replace
- 433 MHz blinds or shades that have worked fine for years
- A window-mounted air conditioner that is still IR-controlled
- IR-based ceiling fans with remote control (this is going to be the most common, in my opinion)
Once they show up in the Home app, you can attach them to scenes like Evening or Morning, trigger lights based on motion, or tie window coverings into your morning routine. From a HomeKit perspective, they behave like any other Matter accessory.
We are finally reaching a point in the smart home world where Matter is gaining widespread support. But there are millions of devices in homes today that will never get updated to Matter. Replacing everything is not practical or necessary. Homey’s approach enables the extension of the lifespan of these older devices, bringing them into the modern ecosystem.
Wrap up
The Matter Bridge app for Homey Pro and Homey Pro mini feels like one of the most important smart home updates of the year. It gives HomeKit users a practical path to make older devices part of their modern setup without replacing a single piece of hardware. If you have a Homey already, the update is live now in the Homey App Store. For anyone who wants to unify several generations of smart home gear under Apple Home, this is a compelling option.
You can buy the Homey Pro and Homey Pro mini from Amazon.
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