Ikea’s Dirigera smart home hub went live almost two years ago now – promising a long overdue retirement for the ageing Trådfri Gateway, and cross-brand compatibility thanks to it being built with Matter in mind.
However, despite numerous launch dates for that all-important Matter update being touted in 2023, Ikea smart home users are still tied into their native Zigbee ecosystem.
The good news is that’s all set to change as beta Ikea Home Smart app users with Dirigera hubs can now add their device to a Matter smart home setup.
- Explainer: What is Matter for the smart home
An Ikea statement signalling the update reads:
“The initial release transforms the Dirigera hub into a Matter bridge, allowing Zigbee devices to be compatible with Matter networks. We are piloting this innovative feature with a focus on lighting products exclusively for our beta users. We are gathering feedback from users during this testing phase, which will help improve the overall experience when the update is expanded to include all customers and more products in the future. More details to follow, so stay tuned.”
As mentioned in that statement then, it’s simply making the Dirigera hub a Matter bridge. That means you’ll be able to add Ikea smart home sensors, such as the latest trio Parasoll, Vallhorn and Badring, to a Matter smart home system, but only via the Dirigera hub itself, which will be the device actually tied into Matter.
It’s a similar approach to what we’ve seen from the likes of Philips Hue, Tuya and Aqara, who all use Matter bridges to make non-Matter devices compatible.
It’s a shame that the update doesn’t make the Dirigera a Matter controller and there’s also no word on Thread or border router action either, which was mentioned when the device first went live. So it really is just a case of getting Ikea sensors incorporated into a Matter system, which is a shame as we did initially have hopes that it would be a more complete smart home hub.
- Guide: What is Thread
The Ikea Dirigera hub – Swedish for ‘conducting’ in case you were wondering, went live back in October 2022 alongside a new Ikea Home Smart App.
Costing $70 Stateside and £60 in the UK, the Ikea Dirigera connects to your home network via an Ethenet cable into your router or access point. We have been promised Wi-Fi connectivity in the past but, like the Matter update, that’s been a long time coming.
Powered by USB-C, the Ikea Dirigera hub is a puck-shaped device, measuring in at 2.7cm high and an 11.2cm diameter.
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