C. Scott Brown / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Samsung has enabled Matter Easy Pair on Galaxy Phones via its Nearby Device Scanning app.
- Galaxy users will now see a pop-up when a Matter-enabled device is nearby.
Samsung is updating its Nearby Device Scanning feature with the ability to recognize Matter-enabled devices. Galaxy Phones will now be able to detect a Matter-compatible smart home device if it’s in the vicinity.
First spotted by SamMobile, Samsung has pushed out an update to the Nearby Device Scanning app via the Galaxy Store. The changelog includes added support for “Matter EasyPair” pop-ups. This means when a Matter device is near your Galaxy phone, you will get a notification or a pop-up screen that lets you connect to it quickly. The functionality comes with version 11.1.08.07 of the Nearby Device Scanning app.
Google also recently enabled Fast Pair support for Matter devices on Android. It’s possible that Samsung’s iteration of Matter Easy Pair is based on Google’s feature, as the update changelog mentions “GMS,” which likely stands for Google Mobile Services.
Nevertheless, it’s good to see Samsung, Google, and others get ready for Matter devices when they hit the market. For the uninitiated, Matter is a new interoperability standard that bypasses smart home compatibility issues. It aims to make smart home devices work with each other no matter the ecosystem. You can read more about Matter here.
