Multi-admin: sharing one Matter device across platforms

One of Matter's central promises is that a device does not belong to one app. The standard calls this multi-admin: the same device can be controlled by more than one controller at once. This guide explains how it works, the three ways platforms use it, and where the practical limits are. It is based on published documentation, read on 13 November 2026.

The idea

A controller that has been set up with a device holds credentials for it. Matter's word for the set of devices and controllers that share credentials is a fabric, and a device can belong to several. The Alliance's FAQ describes multi-admin as the feature that lets you connect a device to several platforms, apps or control points and choose which of them can reach it. The aim is that you pick the app you prefer and keep a second one for a specific job.

Home Assistant's documentation says the standard describes devices that can join at least five fabrics at once. Its example is one device in Home Assistant, Apple Home and Google Home all at once.

Method one: share from the first platform

The oldest route is to set a device up with one controller and ask that controller to share it. The device goes into a sharing mode and gives a code. You enter or scan the code in the second app.

• Home Assistant to another app. The page describes selecting the device, choosing to share it, and entering the code in the other platform's app. It says no hardware button needs to be pressed. In the Companion app, a shortcut can add the device directly to Apple Home or share it with another app on Android.
• Another app to Home Assistant. The Companion app has an option that says the device is already in use, and you then choose which controller it is on.
• A maker's app to Google Home. Google's setup page says a device can be set up in the maker's own app and then shared to Google Home by following that app's prompts, and that a device set up in the maker's app can be controlled from either app.

Method two: Enhanced Multi-Admin

Matter 1.4 added Enhanced Multi-Admin. The Alliance's reasoning is that sharing every device by hand gets tedious as a home grows. With Enhanced Multi-Admin a user gives a single consent and existing and new devices connect to several platforms automatically. The announcement says the standard gives developers more than one way to implement this, and that it is optional.

It depends on the platforms. The Alliance says it expected to publish more detail for product makers, and does not say which platforms support it or when. Check each platform's help pages before relying on it.

Method three: Joint Fabric

Matter 1.6 adds Joint Fabric. In the earlier methods, access is shared between separate fabrics that each belong to a platform. With Joint Fabric, several controllers a user has authorised co-administer a single shared network, using a central datastore. A device added to it is reachable from every participating controller, controllers can come and go separately, and the whole Joint Fabric counts as one fabric against the device's capacity.

The announcement suggests it suits shared or professionally managed properties and homes that run several platforms. As with Enhanced Multi-Admin, adoption is for each platform and maker to decide.

Things to expect

• Each controller keeps its own view. Apple's support page says accessories previously paired with another app can be added from any app that supports Matter, and that paired accessories sync through iCloud Keychain across your devices. That describes Apple's behaviour only. Rooms and names are set in each app.
• A device has a limit on fabrics. The Home Assistant page cites a minimum of five. The Joint Fabric design counts as one. A device may allow more, and the maker's page is where to look.
• Duplicates were a known problem. Matter 1.4.2 added persistent identifiers for a device's endpoints that do not depend on the controller, to reduce confusion and duplicates when a device is shared or set up again. It also added a way for a controller to check cryptographically that an administrator on a device belongs to the vendor it claims.
• A feature may differ per platform. Each platform shows what it supports. Sharing a device does not make a platform support a device type. See which types each platform supports.
• Away-from-home control needs a controller at home. The Alliance's FAQ says a Matter-only device needs an internet-connected controller in the home.

Checks before you rely on it

1. Which platforms do you actually want to use, and do they all support the device type?
2. Does the device say how many fabrics it supports?
3. Are you comfortable with each platform holding credentials for the device?
4. Do you know how to remove the device from each, and keep the setup code in case you need to start again?

This guide summarises published documents and describes no testing. We do not test devices.