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Eve’s Android app is finally almost here, thanks to Google’s new Home APIs

Eve’s Android app is finally almost here, thanks to Google’s new Home APIs

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With Google opening up its smart home platform, the once Apple-only smart home company Eve says development of its Android app has been ‘turbo-charged.’

By Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, a smart home reporter who’s been testing connected gadgets since 2013. Previously a contributor to Wirecutter, Wired, Dwell, and US News.

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A white smart plug on a blue background
Eve, makers of smart home devices such as the Eve Energy smart plug, will soon launch an Android app.
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

After announcing that it would be bringing an app to Android way back in 2022, Eve is finally close to launching its Android app, possibly by this fall. Android users will be able to control Eve’s smart home products natively — including smart plugs, smart lights, and smart shades. They will be able to access features such as energy management that are not yet available in the Matter platforms they work with (including Google Home and Samsung SmartThings). Prior to Matter, Eve devices only worked with Apple HomeKit and were only controllable on iOS devices.

“The highly anticipated app will allow Matter devices to be added, controlled and automated directly and without any proprietary connection mechanism or fragile cloud-to-cloud integrations,” the company said in a press release. “For the growing range of Matter-enabled Eve devices, Eve for Android will provide advanced functionality, such as measurement of energy consumption and generation for Eve Energy solutions, autonomous heating schedules for the smart thermostat Eve Thermo or Adaptive Shading for roller blinds in the Eve Blinds Collection.”

The move follows Google’s announcement this week that it’s opening up Google Home’s Home APIs. Eve has been working as an early access partner with Google and is leveraging the APIs to continue developing the app, which has been much delayed due in large part to “external dependencies,” according to a post on Reddit from a person claiming to be an Eve engineer.

“The Google Home APIs turbo-charge the development of Eve for Android — they complement the set of tools that our teams need,” says Jerome Gackel, CEO of Eve. “What has always set Eve apart is the seamless integration into the platform, without a cloud or proprietary technologies. Thanks to the Google Home APIs, we can deliver the same on Android, and we are proud to be moving forward hand in hand with Google.”

While Eve hasn’t provided a date for the launch, the company says it will be once the Google Home APIs are publicly released. According to Google, the first apps built on the Home APIs will come to the Play Store and App Store starting this fall.

What is Matter?

Matter is a new smart home interoperability standard designed to provide a common language for connected devices to communicate locally in your home without relying on a cloud connection. It is built to be secure and private, easy to set up, and widely compatible.

Developed by Apple, Amazon, Google, and Samsung (and others), Matter is an open-sourced, IP-based connectivity software layer for smart home devices. It works over Wi-Fi, ethernet, and the low-power mesh networking protocol Thread and currently supports over 30 device types. These include lighting, thermostats, locks, refrigerators, dishwashers, dryers, ovens, smoke alarms, air quality monitors, EV chargers, and more.

A smart home gadget with the Matter logo can be set up and used with any Matter-compatible ecosystem via a Matter controller and controlled by them simultaneously, a feature called multi-admin.

Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Samsung SmartThings, and Apple Home are some major smart home platforms supporting Matter, along with hundreds of device manufacturers.

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