Does a device being 'Matter compatible' mean it will work in my routines?

Not by itself. Your platform must list the device type on its Matter page, its automation help must cover the feature you want, and the device itself must support that feature. Where the platform's list and its automation help both cover a feature, our table marks it usable as the platform's rule for that kind of device. Check the product page for the exact model, and make sure you have the controller or hub the platform requires.

Why does the table say 'control only' for some features instead of 'works'?

Because nothing we read puts that feature in reach of a routine on that platform. The device type may be on the platform's Matter list. If its automation help does not name the feature, or the platform's own page limits it, we leave it as control only rather than guess.

If Apple's list leaves out cameras and leak sensors, do those devices not work with Apple Home?

They often do, by a different route. Apple's list covers only the Matter device types the Home app supports. A camera or leak sensor can reach Apple Home through the maker's own app link or bridge instead, and many in our library do. The finding is about the Matter route, not about the device.

Is this likely to change?

Yes. Matter adds device types with each release, and platforms update their help pages. The sources below carry the date of each page we read, and we re-read them on a schedule.

Matter Automations: What Each Platform's Own Rules Cover

A Matter badge on the box does not tell you whether a device can start an automation. The answer comes from two pages the platform publishes. One is its Matter page, which lists the kinds of Matter device the platform supports. The other is its automation help, which says which features a routine can start from or change. When a device type is on the first list and the feature is in the second, the platform’s own rules cover it, and our table marks it as usable in routines.

That mark is the platform’s rule for that kind of device. It is not a promise about any one model. A maker can leave a feature out of its Matter build. Each product page still shows what that device itself supports, and its answer is the one to trust for the device you are buying.

What this means before you buy

Lights, plugs, switches, locks, thermostats, blinds and the common door and motion sensors are on the published lists. For those, check two things on the product page: that the device joins your platform over Matter, and that the feature you want is marked usable for that platform. If both hold, the platform’s own rules say a routine can use it. You still need the controller or hub the platform requires.

Cameras, doorbells, sirens, alarm arming, and smoke, carbon monoxide and leak alarms are a different story. Most of them are missing from at least one platform’s Matter list. A feature that is not on the list has no Matter route on that platform. Devices like these usually reach your platform another way, through the maker’s own app link or a bridge, and that route is the one to check. Look for the manufacturer saying, in its own words, that the alert you want works on the platform you own. Our product profiles record which route each device uses and what it costs you.

Unlocking stays unmarked on Google Home, even though locks are on Google’s list. Google’s Matter page says voice unlock is turned off for door locks, and that remote unlock is turned off for Matter locks that do not require a PIN code. With limits like those written into the platform’s own page, we leave unlocking as not stated on Google Home rather than mark it usable for every Matter lock. Locking shares that row with unlocking, so it stays unmarked too, while lock status, whether the door is locked, is marked usable.

What the platforms publish

Apple, Google, Amazon and Samsung each publish a page about the Matter devices their platform supports. Google’s page describes its list this way:

Many Matter device types are supported in the Google Home ecosystem, though not all are fully supported. Note: Device types other than the ones listed here are not officially supported in the Google Home ecosystem.

Apple’s help page lists the Matter accessory types the Home app supports:

The Home app currently supports these types of Matter accessories: air conditioners, bridges, lights, locks, outlets, switches, thermostats, blinds and shades, and sensors (motion, ambient light, contact, temperature, and humidity).

Samsung publishes its list on its SmartThings partners page, and SmartThings also publishes the source of its Matter device drivers, which say feature by feature what each kind of device reports. Its partners page opens this way:

Most Matter devices work with SmartThings right out of the box, making it easier than ever to build a connected home.

A list like these tells you a Matter motion sensor will show up in the app. On its own it does not say whether a routine can start when the sensor sees movement. That half comes from the platform’s automation help, which names the triggers and actions a routine can use. We read both, for 58 everyday smart-home features on each platform, and the table below puts the two together.

What each list leaves out

Read the lists for what is missing. Of the 58 features we track, 36 are not on Apple’s Matter list, including camera video, two-way talk, doorbell presses, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, leak detection and sirens. Google’s list leaves out 25 and Alexa’s leaves out 30. Those gaps are findings, not guesses: each page presents its list as the set of device types the platform supports, so a feature that is missing from it has no Matter route there.

24 features appear on none of the Apple, Google and Alexa lists. Leak detection is one. Arming a security system is another. So is anything a camera does.

A device left off a list is not a device that will not work. It usually means the device reaches the platform a different way. The IKEA KLIPPBOK leak sensor is a good example: leak alerts are on none of those three Matter lists. On Apple Home, Google Home and Alexa, what you get depends on what IKEA itself documents, not on the badge. SmartThings is the exception for this model: its own device driver names the KLIPPBOK and passes its leak reading to routines. The Aqara G410 doorbell shows the other side. Aqara documents live video on an Echo display through its own app link, not through Matter.

Locks and door sensors are the easier case. Both are on the published lists, which is why a device like the Aqara P2 door and window sensor has a documented Matter route to Alexa and to Google in our records. Each route still needs a compatible hub in the house, and the profile spells that out.

Alexa’s routine documentation

Amazon’s Matter list is clear about device categories. What Amazon publishes about routines is harder to use: most of the pages that would say what can start an Alexa routine are not ones we could read. So the Alexa column marks a feature usable only where Amazon’s own developer pages say a routine can use it. The rest stay “control only”, even when the device type is on Amazon’s list. Treat a “control only” mark on Alexa as an open question, and check the routine you have in mind in the Alexa app before you buy.

How we judged each feature

Each entry in the table is one feature on one platform’s Matter route, and it gets one of three results:

Not in the list. The platform publishes a list of the Matter device types it supports and the feature’s device type is missing. Because the page presents the list as complete, that absence counts as an answer.
Control only. The platform’s Matter page and its automation help do not, between them, put the feature in reach of a routine. Either the Matter page is silent about it or the automation help does not name it. We do not fill that gap with a guess.
Routines can use it. The device type is on the platform’s Matter list, and the platform’s automation help says routines can use that feature. This is the platform’s rule for that kind of device.

Here is where each platform stands today. Apple Home has 19 features marked usable in routines, 3 control only and 36 not in the list. Google Home has 25 usable, 8 control only and 25 not in the list. Alexa has 7 usable, 21 control only and 30 not in the list. SmartThings has 32 usable, 26 control only and 0 not in the list. Each platform is counted on its own, because the same feature means a different device and a different rule on each one.

The data

not in the list — the platform's own list of supported Matter device types does not include this
control only — the platform documents the device type but never says the value reaches automations
routines can use it (device type listed) — the platform's Matter page lists this kind of device, and its automations can use this feature

What would change our answer

A platform adding device types to its Matter list would move those features off “not in the list.” A platform publishing more about what its routines can use, which matters most for Alexa, would move features from “control only” to “routines can use it.” A maker’s own page saying a model leaves a feature out would cap that model’s product page, whatever the platform’s rule says. We re-read these pages on a schedule, and the sources below carry the date of each reading.