The Connectivity Standards Alliance has released Matter 1.6 for device makers and platforms to integrate into their products.

Matter 1.6 is a focused feature release offering device makers, ecosystems and platform developers the tools to build smarter, more flexible smart home experiences. Rather than expanding into new device categories, this release enhances device setup, improves how ecosystems can coordinate device management, and refines how devices interpret and respond to control inputs to reflect user preferences and context.

Core enhancements also improve how devices communicate their capabilities, operational states and safety information across ecosystems.

For many smart home devices, installation and commissioning do not occur simultaneously, and commissioning can be difficult. Ceiling fixtures, in-wall switches and other installed products often need to be configured before final installation due to awkward placement requirements, creating additional complexity during deployment. Matter 1.6 introduces NFC-based commissioning, addressing this need by allowing a Matter device to be commissioned through bi-directional NFC communications, even before the device is fully powered on.

This builds on the NFC onboarding payload support introduced in Matter 1.4.1, which embedded setup information in an NFC tag as a more convenient alternative to scanning a QR code, but still relied on Bluetooth LE to complete commissioning. Matter 1.6 goes further: the full commissioning exchange can now happen over NFC, making it a genuine alternative to BLE-based setups.

In practice, this means a light bulb can be commissioned before it is screwed into a ceiling fixture, and an in-wall switch can be set up before mains power is on. For larger installations, multiple devices can be provisioned in advance and activated at their final locations. For end users, the experience is immediate and tactile: simply hold a phone near the device to commission it.

Matter 1.4 introduced enhanced multi-admin, which gave ecosystems tools to automate the sharing of device access across platforms with a single user consent. Matter 1.6 expands the multi-admin toolkit with joint fabric, offering a distinct approach that works differently from previously introduced methods.

Where earlier enhanced multi-admin approaches share device access between separate ecosystem networks, or fabrics, joint fabric allows multiple user-authorised controllers to co-administer a single shared Matter network. Using a central datastore, any device added to the joint fabric is accessible to all participating controllers. Administrators can be added or removed independently of the devices on the network, and participation in a joint fabric counts as a single fabric towards a device’s capacity, leaving room for it to participate in traditional ecosystem fabrics simultaneously.

Joint fabric is well-suited to environments where multiple parties need coordinated access to the same devices such as new construction handovers, households running multiple platforms or professionally managed properties. For end users, it means devices can appear and be controlled from whichever ecosystem or interface is most convenient, without requiring separate setup in each one. For ecosystems and developers, it provides a standard foundation for these multi-admin scenarios without relying on proprietary approaches.

Today, smart home ecosystems send commands directly to thermostats, which may act on them without much context, executing whatever instruction arrives, regardless of the user’s recent inputs or preferences. Matter 1.6 introduces thermostat suggestions, which alters this dynamic by giving ecosystems a standard way to transmit recommended changes and thermostats a standard way to evaluate them against user-defined preferences with current context before acting.

Rather than a controller sending a direct command to change temperature or mode, it submits a time-bound suggestion tied to one of the thermostat’s supported presets. The thermostat then reacts accordingly based on preferences and current environmental conditions.

For example, a user enrolled in a utility demand-response programme can configure the thermostat to protect those commitments, preventing an automation from a different ecosystem from accidentally overriding a savings event.

A user who has chosen to optimise for energy savings, or for humidity control, air quality or another preference, can have the setting recognised and respected across connected services without needing to configure it in each one.

A thermostat that was just manually adjusted, on the device or through one ecosystem, can recognise a suggestion arriving moments later from another source and will identify it is likely not what the user intended, and defer.

When a suggestion is not followed, the thermostat provides a standard explanation, providing users and ecosystems clearer visibility into its behaviour. The result is a more intelligent and predictable thermostat, balancing recommendations from connected services while remaining aligned with user instructions and preferences.

Matter 1.6 brings targeted refinements to device status communication and ecosystem security, improving visibility and trust across connected environments.

Devices can now communicate their capabilities and operational limits in a standard way, allowing controllers to represent and use devices more accurately across ecosystems.

Security sensors can interoperably indicate sensor event history, giving ecosystems access to real-time status and past activity. This enhancement supports more informed security experiences by providing greater context around when events occur.

Alarms are now able to indicate when they have been removed from their installed position, giving ecosystems and users a more accurate picture of whether a device is operational.

Building on certificate revocation list (CRL) support from Matter 1.4.2, revocation information can now be managed in smaller, independently updated partitions rather than a single large set, making the security infrastructure more scalable as the number of certified devices grows.

Device makers, platform developers and ecosystem partners can review the Matter 1.6 specification (csa-iot.org/developer-resource/specifications-download-request/) and software development kit (SDK, handbook.buildwithmatter.com/development/).