Ikea’s Dirigera smart home hub went stay virtually two years in the past now – promising a protracted overdue retirement for the ageing Trådfri Gateway, and cross-brand compatibility due to it being constructed with Matter in thoughts.
Nonetheless, regardless of quite a few launch dates for that all-important Matter replace being touted in 2023, Ikea smart home customers are nonetheless tied into their native Zigbee ecosystem.
The excellent news is that’s all set to alter as beta Ikea Home Smart app customers with Dirigera hubs can now add their machine to a Matter smart home setup.
An Ikea assertion signalling the replace reads:
“The preliminary launch transforms the Dirigera hub right into a Matter bridge, permitting Zigbee gadgets to be suitable with Matter networks. We’re piloting this modern function with a deal with lighting merchandise solely for our beta customers. We’re gathering suggestions from customers throughout this testing part, which can assist enhance the general expertise when the replace is expanded to incorporate all prospects and extra merchandise sooner or later. Extra particulars to observe, so keep tuned.”
As talked about in that assertion then, it’s merely making the Dirigera hub a Matter bridge. Which means you’ll have the ability to add Ikea smart home sensors, reminiscent of the newest trio Parasoll, Vallhorn and Badring, to a Matter smart home system, however solely through the Dirigera hub itself, which would be the machine truly tied into Matter.
It’s an analogous strategy to what we’ve seen from the likes of Philips Hue, Tuya and Aqara, who all use Matter bridges to make non-Matter gadgets suitable.
It’s a disgrace that the replace doesn’t make the Dirigera a Matter controller and there’s additionally no phrase on Thread or border router motion both, which was talked about when the machine first went stay. So it truly is only a case of getting Ikea sensors integrated right into a Matter system, which is a disgrace as we did initially have hopes that it will be a extra full smart home hub.
The Ikea Dirigera hub – Swedish for ‘conducting’ in case you have been questioning, went stay again in October 2022 alongside a brand new Ikea Home Smart App.
Costing $70 Stateside and £60 within the UK, the Ikea Dirigera connects to your home community through an Ethenet cable into your router or entry level. We now have been promised Wi-Fi connectivity previously however, just like the Matter replace, that’s been a very long time coming.
Powered by USB-C, the Ikea Dirigera hub is a puck-shaped machine, measuring in at 2.7cm excessive and an 11.2cm diameter.