Matter 1.5: cameras, closures, soil sensors and energy tariffs

Matter 1.5 was announced on 20 November 2025. It is the release that brought cameras into the standard, along with a new approach to shades and garage doors, soil sensors and richer energy information. This piece separates what the specification says from what you can buy and use today, because for a camera or a door opener the gap matters.

What the specification added

The Alliance's announcement lists four areas.

Cameras. Cameras can be built to interoperate with Matter platforms without custom interfaces. The announcement says live video and audio use WebRTC, with two-way audio, local and remote viewing through the standard STUN and TURN mechanisms, several streams, pan, tilt and zoom, detection and privacy zones, and recording to local or cloud storage, either continuously or on events. It also says makers remain free to build extra features into their own apps and cloud services.

Closures. A reworked and unified model covers shades, curtains, awnings, gates and garage doors. A small set of modular building blocks describes how something moves (sliding, rotating, opening) and its layout, such as one panel or two. The Alliance links this to better position reporting and the "did I close the garage" question.

Soil sensors. Moisture and, optionally, temperature, for plants and gardens. The announcement says they can drive watering when combined with Matter water valves.

Energy. A new device type for electrical energy tariffs lets price, tariff and carbon information from utilities and energy services reach devices in one format, so a device can estimate its running cost or adjust itself. The release also improves smart metering support and adds features for charging electric vehicles, including state-of-charge reporting and two-way charging.

There is also support for operating over TCP, which helps with large messages such as camera data and faster firmware updates.

Announced is not shipped

The announcement is careful here. It says the specification, SDK and test tools were "available to Alliance Members", that device makers and platforms were encouraged to begin certification planning, and that the features were ready for implementation and certification. That is the start of the road. Certified products, and then platform support, come later and on each company's own timetable.

What the platforms' own pages say, as we read them on 13 November 2026:

• Home Assistant. Its Matter page says cameras built to Matter 1.5 or above are supported, that the Matter Server app must be at 9.3.0 or higher for this, and that the video stream goes by WebRTC straight from the camera to your browser. Two-way audio is supported if the camera has it.
• Alexa. Amazon's developer page says compatible Echo models are built on the Matter 1.5 SDK and handle some, not all, of the device types in 1.5 and earlier. It does not say which of the 1.5 types are in that subset.
• Google Home. Google's supported device types list includes an electrical energy tariff entry. We did not find a camera type in it, and Google says types not listed are not officially supported.
• Apple Home. Apple's page, dated 11 May 2026, lists the accessory types the Home app supports today. Cameras are not among them.

These are four snapshots, and a vendor can change a page at any time. They show that a 1.5 device type in the standard is not the same as a 1.5 device type in your app.

What to ask before buying a Matter 1.5 camera or opener

1. Which platform will show it? Check that platform's current list for the device type, not the standard.
2. What does the maker say about the specification version? The certificate shows the version the product was certified against. See how to read a certificate.
3. Where does the video go? For a camera, find out whether recording is local or cloud, whether an account is needed and what is charged. The standard allows both, so the box will not tell you.
4. What stays in the maker's app? The Alliance says makers can keep their own features outside Matter.
5. Is a closure a safety device? Position reporting helps, but a garage door or gate has mechanical safety needs the standard does not replace. Follow the maker's installation guidance.

UK context

Nothing in the announcement is specific to the UK. Energy tariff data depends on utilities and energy services supporting the format, and we have not checked which UK suppliers do. Until a supplier says so, treat the tariff features as a capability of the standard and not of your bill.

This piece is based on published documents, read on 13 November 2026. We do not test devices.