Setting up your smart home is about to get a lot easier

Say goodbye to (some) smart home headaches. Matter is rolling out new user-friendly features that’ll make setting up your smart home smoother than ever, helping you skip some of the more annoying and fiddly steps when adding new gadgets. These updates are part of the freshly announced 1.4.1 specification from the Connectivity Standards Alliance.

The standout feature in this update? The Multi-Device Setup QR Code. Right now, with certain smart devices (like a set of lightbulbs), you have to scan and set up each bulb one by one in the app before moving to the next—not just tedious, but often tricky since you usually need to scan the code while the device is powered on, and it’s typically placed in an awkward spot (like the base).

With this upgrade, you’ll only need to scan one QR code to set up multiple devices at once—though this depends on manufacturers enabling the feature in their products.

Another handy addition? NFC setup. This isn’t brand-new—Apple HomeKit and smart lighting brand LIFX (among others) have used it for years—but it hasn’t been widely adopted across the industry. Now that it’s part of the Matter standard, expect to see it on more devices.

Finally, there’s the Enhanced Setup Flow (ESF). Imagine you’re setting up a new device in the Google Home app, but you hit a roadblock: the manufacturer’s terms and conditions. Normally, you’d get booted out of the Home app and into the device’s own app. With ESF, you can accept those terms without ever leaving Google Home.

While 1.4.1 is just a small “dot” update for Matter, these tweaks tackle some of the biggest gripes users have had with the protocol. And anything that makes smart home management less of a hassle is definitely a win.