Do I still need the manufacturer's app if a device is Matter?
Usually yes, for two documented reasons. Platforms expose only the Matter clusters they have implemented: Google's supported-clusters table, updated 16 September 2026, lists Power Source but neither ElectricalPowerMeasurement nor ElectricalEnergyMeasurement, so energy readings a device reports are not surfaced. Vendor-specific features have no standard cluster at all. Firmware updating is the shrinking exception.
Last checked: against Google Home Developers, Supported Matter clusters (updated 2026-09-16); Alexa Supported Matter Device Categories and Clusters (updated 2026-04-08)
Reason one: platforms implement a subset of the clusters
Matter describes a device's capabilities as clusters — On/Off, Level Control, Color Control, Power Source and so on. A platform renders only the clusters it has implemented. Both Google and Amazon publish exactly which ones, which makes this checkable rather than anecdotal.
Google's supported-clusters table, last updated 16 September 2026, lists 25 clusters with their IDs and Cloud-to-cloud trait mappings, among them:
| Cluster | ID | Maps to |
|---|---|---|
| On/Off | 0x0006 | OnOff / OpenClose / Volume |
| Level Control | 0x0008 | Brightness / Volume |
| Color Control | 0x0300 | ColorSetting |
| Power Source | 0x002f | EnergyStorage (Battery feature) |
| Door Lock | 0x0101 | LockUnlock |
| Window Covering | 0x0102 | OpenClose / Rotation |
| Thermostat | 0x0201 | OccupancySensing / TemperatureSetting |
| RVC Operational State | 0x0061 | Dock / StartStop / RunCycle |
What is not in that table is the useful part. Neither ElectricalPowerMeasurement nor ElectricalEnergyMeasurement appears. A smart plug that measures watts and kilowatt-hours has somewhere to report them in Matter and nowhere to display them in Google Home — so the number stays visible only in the manufacturer's app.
Amazon's documentation is structured the same way: each supported device category is paired with the specific Matter clusters required and the Alexa capabilities they map to. Support at the device-type level does not imply every attribute is surfaced.
Reason two: vendor features have no cluster to travel in
Where no standard cluster exists, nothing crosses. This affects most of what differentiates one product from another within a category:
- Robot vacuum mapping, no-go zones, room naming and consumable life
- Camera detection zones, person and package alerts, subscription clip history
- Air purifier filter-life percentages beyond what a standard cluster carries
- Multi-step vendor automations and device-local scheduling
These are not implementation gaps that a platform update closes. There is no agreed representation for them in the standard, so the vendor app remains the only place they exist.
Reason three, the subtle one: platform-specific requirements
A feature can exist in Matter and still require something extra from the accessory before a platform will show it. Apple's Adaptive Lighting over Matter accessory requirements, Release R1, specify Matter 1.1 or later plus the Color Control cluster carrying ColorTemperatureMireds and ColorMode and supporting the MoveColorTemperature command. A Matter light that omits continuous colour-temperature control is fully compliant and still will not offer the feature — see why Adaptive Lighting disappears over Matter.
Where the dependency is genuinely receding
Firmware updating used to be the strongest reason to keep a vendor app installed. Matter defines over-the-air software update, and firmware information is published through the Connectivity Standards Alliance's Distributed Compliance Ledger, which lets any controller find approved updates without vendor-specific plumbing. Trade reporting from August and September 2026 describes Homey adding Matter OTA updates and names Apple Home, SmartThings and Home Assistant as already supporting them.
Treat that paragraph as secondary sourcing — it is trade reporting, not platform documentation.
The honest summary
Keep the app. For most Matter devices in 2026 the platform app is the better daily driver — faster, local, and shared across several ecosystems at once — while the vendor app remains where the long tail of settings, the energy figures and the device-specific configuration live.
Related questions
Which clusters does Google Home publish as supported?
Google's table lists 25 clusters including On/Off, Level Control, Color Control, Door Lock, Window Covering, Thermostat, Fan Control, Power Source, Occupancy Sensing, Temperature, Illuminance, Flow and Pressure Measurement, Boolean State, Chime, Valve Configuration and Control, Operational State and the RVC modes. It gives each cluster's ID and, where one exists, its Cloud-to-cloud trait mapping.
Is power monitoring available over Matter?
Matter defines electrical measurement clusters, but Google's supported-clusters table does not list ElectricalPowerMeasurement or ElectricalEnergyMeasurement as of 2026-09-16. A plug that measures power will therefore report it to its own app while Google Home shows only on/off state.
Do firmware updates still require the vendor app?
Decreasingly. Matter defines over-the-air software update, and trade reporting describes platforms including Apple Home, SmartThings, Home Assistant and Homey performing Matter OTA updates using firmware information published through the CSA's Distributed Compliance Ledger.