Integrations · Hub
Integrations: Matter, Apple Home, Google Home, Alexa and your system
A wired installation does not speak the language of voice assistants, and that is not a flaw: they were designed for different jobs. The gateway is the translator. This page explains how, and lists every combination we document.
A wired bus carries short telegrams between board modules. A voice assistant thinks in « accessories »: a lamp, a blind, a thermostat, each with a normalised set of states. Nothing links the two spontaneously.
The gateway does that job: it reads the structure of your installation, converts it into objects the platforms understand, and passes commands back the other way.
01How a gateway works, in four steps
- Reading: the gateway imports the installation configuration.
- Translation: each function becomes a normalised object type.
- Publication: those objects are exposed to one or more platforms, directly or through Matter.
- State feedback: a light switched on from the wall shows as on in the app.
02What stays local, what goes through the cloud
| Function | Local | Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Wall switches and bus automations | Always | Never |
| App on the home network | Yes | No |
| Voice control | No | Yes |
| Access from outside | No | Yes |
03Documented combinations
- KNX to Matter — the bridge to the standard, multi-admin.
- KNX and Apple Home — Siri, Home app, Apple home hub.
- Loxone and Apple Home — object mapping to HomeKit.
- Crestron Home and Matter — integrating the standard into the project.
04Who does what: Matter, Apple Home, Google Home, Alexa
| Platform | Nature | Hardware required |
|---|---|---|
| Matter | Interoperability standard (CSA) | Any compatible controller |
| Apple Home | Apple ecosystem | A home hub (HomePod or Apple TV) for remote access and automations |
| Google Home | Google ecosystem | A Google account; a Nest speaker or display for voice |
| Amazon Alexa | Amazon ecosystem | An Amazon account; an Echo speaker for voice |
| SmartThings | Samsung ecosystem | A compatible hub depending on the integration path |
| Home Assistant | Open, self-hosted platform | A host machine maintained by the user |
The right-hand column is the one people discover too late. Apple's home hub in particular is a real cost, and it must appear in the quote rather than in a surprise at commissioning.
05Choosing a platform when starting from scratch
- Look first at the phones in the household: it is the criterion that matters most day to day.
- If the household is mixed, go through Matter and its multi-admin rather than arbitrating.
- Count the ancillary hardware: an Apple home hub or a speaker is not free.
- Check which object types the platform can represent before promising a use case.
05Choosing a platform: the questions that actually matter
Most platform comparisons are written around features. In practice the choice is settled by four constraints that have nothing to do with feature lists.
- What the household already owns. Phones, speakers and displays already in the house weigh more than any specification sheet.
- Which hardware the platform requires on its side — a home hub, a speaker, an account — because that is a real cost added to the gateway.
- What happens without an internet connection, function by function. Wall switches and bus automations keep working; voice and remote access do not.
- Whether you want to keep more than one platform at the same time, which is precisely what the Matter multi-admin path allows.
None of these four is a reason to change the gateway. They decide which page of this matrix applies to you, not which product you buy — the product is settled by the system already in place.
Frequently asked questions
Can an integration disappear with an update?
It happens: consumer platforms move fast. That is a strong argument for Matter exposure, which relies on a public specification rather than a proprietary integration.
Does Matter replace KNX?
No. Matter is an interoperability language between platforms; KNX is a building infrastructure with actuators in the board. Matter does not command an actuator on a wired bus — the gateway does.
Can several voice assistants be used at once?
Yes — that is exactly what Matter multi-admin brings: one object can belong to several ecosystems in parallel.