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The Connectivity Standards Alliance has officially signed off on Matter 1.5, a major update that finally brings standard support for smart home cameras to the cross-platform protocol. This release opens the door for manufacturers to build cameras that work natively within Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, and Google Home without relying on proprietary bridges or platform-specific apps.
Camera support has been a top request since Matter launched, and version 1.5 delivers the necessary framework for basic video and audio streaming via WebRTC. It goes beyond simple viewing, however, adding support for complex features like pan-tilt-zoom controls, privacy masking, and motion detection zones. The update also reworks how "closures" operate, offering more granular control for devices like garage doors, gates, and window shades that use sliding or rotating mechanisms.
The update also expands deeper into energy management. Matter 1.5 adds native support for Electric Vehicle chargers, unlocking capabilities like bi-directional charging and the ability to check your car's battery status without jumping between apps. It also gets smarter about the grid itself, allowing devices to pull real-time data on energy pricing and carbon intensity—meaning your home could automatically schedule power-hungry tasks for when electricity is cheapest. On the outdoor front, the standard now recognizes soil moisture and temperature sensors, paving the way for smarter automated irrigation.
Matter 1.5 also adds TCP transport to better handle the heavier data load required by cameras and to speed up firmware updates. While the spec is ready now, it will take time for these features to arrive in consumer hardware. The ecosystem is growing quickly, though; IKEA recently debuted a new lineup of Matter-enabled sensors and lights, and Amazon has baked the protocol into its latest Echo devices. This release builds on the stability improvements introduced in Matter 1.4.2 earlier this year.
