Smart home gear is getting more common, but the words used to talk about it can get confusing. You might see things like Matter, Thread, or Zigbee on boxes or in setup menus and wonder what they mean.

In iOS 18, Apple quietly enabled the Thread radio found on recent iPhone models to directly control Apple Home and Matter devices. Thread is a new IP-based smart home connectivity standard that ...

Android 15 is adding a Thread network stack that, on supported phones, will enable communicating with compatible smart home devices via Thread. Thread is a low-power mesh networking protocol that ...

Its overall design is slimmer and sleeker than Kwikset’s previous Halo locks, and there is now a nifty new status icon ... Home users You can finally buy a Matter smart lock However, by using ...

The iPhone 16 and 15 both have Thread radios inside them An Apple director and Thread president has explained why they're there Both of the main benefits are related to smart home future-proofing ...

The option to turn off this feature will appear on the Threads networks page. If you’re someone with a smart home, you were probably pretty excited when you got the notification that Thread ...

A new regulatory filing shows Ikea is planning a temperature and humidity sensor that will use Matter-over-Thread ... Up until now, the company's smart home products have largely relied on ...

(Image credit: Shutterstock) Wi-Fi is great for high-bandwidth streaming tasks. However, mesh (though either Thread or Zigbee) is optimized for low-power, low-bandwidth devices. Think smart ...