What worked with the first Matter products from Eve Systems is now being repeated by the manufacturer with its Eve Thermo. Owners of the radiator controller can take part in the Early Access Program to download a pre-release version of the Matter firmware onto their device. The prerequisites are a fourth-generation Eve Thermo (manufactured in 2020 or later) that already has Thread as a wireless protocol and prior registration (link).
In addition, an Apple smart home hub must be installed in the home network that also acts as a Thread Border Router. In other words, a second-generation HomePod, a HomePod mini or a current Apple TV 4K. This note is important because the Eve Thermo with its existing HomeKit firmware can also be controlled via Bluetooth if no such control center is available. With Matter, this is no longer possible.
Eve Systems also explains that some functions are currently not supported in the Matter firmware. Specifically: location-based heating during presence and absence, vacation mode and changing the heating mode (on/off) via Siri and Apple’s Home app. They are to be restored in the near future with an update.
The manufacturer is using its early access as a kind of soft launch. Instead of serving countless users with all possible Matter ecosystems at the same time, Eve Systems asks which platforms they would like to use in the registration form. This way, the rush can be controlled and potential problems with the Matter systems can be solved at an early stage before the Matter firmware is launched for everyone.
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