My top robot vacuum just added Matter compatibility!

Matic, my top choice for the best robot vacuum, just received a significant update. This eye-catching floor bot now integrates with Google Home and Apple Home, thanks to support from the smart home standard Matter.

With this update, you can finally enjoy voice control and smart home integrations that were absent since its launch. You can set up automations like “Run Matic when everyone leaves home,” “Dock the robot when I arrive home,” or “Stop Matic when the door unlocks.”

The Matter integration is still in the works and not yet certified, meaning it doesn’t support all platforms just yet, but it’s a promising start. The company mentioned on Reddit that while the Google Home and Home Assistant experiences are solid, Apple Home and Siri still feel a bit clunky. Alexa support is on the way, but it will come with full certification.

Matic is a US-based robot vacuum maker founded by two former Google Nest engineers. Its standout product, the Matic, distinguishes itself in the crowded robot vacuum market for several reasons: it rarely gets stuck, delivers excellent cleaning performance, and has a charming design. However, it does have one drawback — it can’t fit under your bed. A major advantage for many users is that Matic operates entirely locally, meaning no internet connection is needed to clean your floors. All processing and mapping occur on the device itself.

This local operation is part of why the company took time to roll out smart home control. While Matter allows for full local control, it’s more complex to implement than the cloud API connections that most other integrations rely on.

According to a Reddit post from Matic, “Building it the right way took longer than we wanted, especially since everything about Matic runs on-device, locally, and privately. Making that play nicely with external ecosystems without giving up what makes Matic special wasn’t easy.” The company also clarified that only basic data, like room names and operational status, is shared with smart home platforms — no maps or personal information.

My experience with the update has been positive. The setup was straightforward; I simply tapped on the new “Connect to Smart Home App” option in the Matic app’s Settings and selected the “Entering Pairing Mode” prompt.

The app guided me to open the Apple Home or Google Home app to set up a new device. I opted for Apple, using its onboarding process to scan the Matter setup code displayed on the vacuum’s screen. It worked seamlessly, adding the vacuum to Apple Home, where I can start, stop, and pause cleaning, direct it to vacuum or mop, and set up automations like “When the last person leaves, start Matic.” I can also control the robot with voice commands, using Siri to start, stop, and pause.

I particularly appreciate the voice control feature for managing Matic. Initially, the only way to start it outside of scheduling was through the app. They’ve since added a button on the robot for starting a full clean, but voice control offers another convenient option. Unfortunately, I haven’t yet been able to get it to respond to voice commands for cleaning specific rooms, which seems to be part of the “clunky” experience the Matic team is still refining.

I was already a fan of Matic before the smart home support and voice control were added, and this update makes it even more user-friendly — plus, the fact that it all runs locally is a significant advantage.