For as long as I have been involved with home automation (7+ years) I have used pretty much every available option to build links between the big 3 smart assistant platforms (Homekit, Alexa, Google Assistant) and my smart home. Unfortunately, while the available approaches “worked” (to various degrees), there were always trade-offs. The main one being a lot of manual effort to set up and maintain. For example, all 3 of those required separate manual steps to install link and configure. Then you had to go through the process of assigning the devices to show/hide and their names, then you had to set them up in the mobile app of each ecosystem. Now, most homes probably don’t use all 3 of those like we do, but we’re in the business and also home automation technology fans…

Thank you to the developers of these Home Assistant integrations and installations, they do work very well and have served the community for a long time, I don’t want to miss that message at all here. Homekit & Google Assistant& Alexa

But I want to share and report that the fairly new project Matterbridge has solved the major issues for our smart home. In fact, this direction is going to be our recommendation going forward for our customers as well. Major shout out to the creators of Matterbridge and the Home Assistant Plugin and HASSIO Addon!

This article will go over the steps to install and configure the system, how it works, the pros and cons, and our experience with it in real life daily usage. It will also cover some of the bugs, tweaks and the existing gaps in the ecosystem.

Our Home Setup

As mentioned above, our home setup includes most everything, we have Apple Homekit (Siri) devices, Google Assistant smart speakers and displays, Amazon Alexa devices, and now Home Assistant Assist devices too!. We are of course in the home automation business and need to ensure our solutions work well with everything in real life. I’d imagine, most homes just have one or two of those ecosystems, but still, Matterbridge makes it so much easier. Plus, with Matter poised to become the next generation of smart home technology, it is really great to plug the current world into the new world and have everything work together so seamlessly and easily!

Introducing Matterbridge

OK, so I hope that I’ve sparked your interest! Let’s dig into what Matterbridge is and how it works. From the Matterbridge Github: “Matterbridge is a matter.js plugin manager. It allows you to have all your Matter devices up and running in a couple of minutes without having to deal with the pairing process of each single device…. It creates a device to pair in any ecosystem like Apple Home, Google Home, Amazon Alexa, or any other ecosystem supporting Matter like Home Assistant. You don’t need a hub or a dedicated new machine.” Sounds pretty good, right?!?!

Install Process 

The installation process is easy for anyone familiar with Home Assistant Add-ons and/or Docker. I have done this setup on both Home Assistant OS and Supervised Home Assistant in Docker. Works well in either setup. Just install the add-on and then configure the domains to include and exclude in the sync to Matterbridge. The ability to specify patterns with a wild card is really nice as it gets really annoying to have lots of internal devices and automations showing in my smart assistant device.

https://github.com/t0bst4r/matterbridge-home-assistant

https://github.com/t0bst4r/matterbridge-home-assistant-addon

Adding Mobile Devices

With it installed the next step is to pair to your smart home system ecosystem. To do that click on the “Open Web UI” option in the Home Assistant Add-on and then click the + button to add a device and then scan the QR code from your smart home app of choice (Alexa, HomeKit, Google). After scanning it will pair and then add your devices.

Once you have it paired you can easily add the other ecosystems. The way I have done that is in HomeKit go to Settings > Home Hubs and Bridges, then choose the Matterbridge device and click “Turn on Pairing Mode”. With that enabled go to Alexa and/or Google Home App(s) and click + to add a device and pick Matter. Instead of scanning the QR code choose enter the code manually. When prompted type in the pairing code from HomeKit. It will most likely prompt you that the device is not approved, but it is OK to proceed as you know the source is from Matterbridge in your home automation system.

Once you complete the pairing process your home devices will be available in the apps as shown below and also in your Apple Home, Alexa, and Google Home devices as well to use your voice and/or touch screens.

Amazon Alexa

Google Home

Apple Homekit

Using Matterbridge

I’ve been using Matterbridge for a few weeks now and have found it to be excellent. Since it is all working locally (as far as I can tell) it runs fast. Faster than any other integration I have used, commands are nearly instantaneous. When I add new devices Alexa and Google are telling me about them literally 2 seconds later. Responsiveness from voice and the mobile apps is quite good. The only delays I see is in resync of the devices from time to time, but it doesn’t seem to impact the usage (at least not yet).

Issues I’ve Seen

1. I had an issue with Google pairing on IOS and had to implement a workaround.
2. Camera, Security Alarm and some other domains are not yet available.
3. Many domains only have simple options available (e.g. on/off). They do the job but you don’t get all the bells and whistles.
4. There may be a workaround for this one, I haven’t researched yet, but I get a resync on restart of Home Assistant sometimes. Alexa and Google start announcing new devices which aren’t really new. They don’t get duplicated or anything but it is a bit annoying.

Summary

Well, so far Matterbridge has been a winner. I will keep using it and update this article, but anticipate more good things to come. The community for the plugin is strong and active, let’s hope they keep the good stuff coming including adding the missing domains. Thank you to the creators of Matterbridge and the HA Addon. This solution is a big asset to the community and with Matter emerging as a common standard in the industry, having this connection in place between the ecosystems is fantastic.

Have you tried Matterbridge or have any questions or feedback? Let us know in the comments.