IKEA Matter switches

[jirimrazek]

I honestly can’t believe we are still talking about this in 2025. I recently decided to fully commit to the Matter ecosystem and bought IKEA BILRESA Matter buttons for my entire home, expecting them to work seamlessly with my Google Home setup.

To my absolute frustration, I found out that Google Home still doesn't support "Generic Switch" or button events over Matter, even though the protocol has been out for years.

Why is this still an issue?

It’s embarrassing that a tech giant like Google is lagging so far behind. Here is the reality:

The Competition: Apple HomeKit has had full support for Matter buttons since day one. Everything works there.

The Hardware is Ready: The IKEA buttons are great, affordable, and use the official Matter standard, can be connected directly to Google Streamer for example. 

The Software is Missing: Google recognizes the device is there, but you can’t actually do anything with the button presses. They just sit there as "unsupported" icons.

What is Google waiting for?

Matter was supposed to end the "ecosystem wars," but Google’s half-baked implementation is making it useless for anyone who wants physical controls. Relying solely on voice commands or an app isn't a "smart home"—sometimes you just need a physical button on the wall.

Does anyone have any news on when Google plans to fix this? Or is it time to finally give up and migrate everything to Home Assistant or HomeKit? It’s a shame because I actually like the Google Nest hardware, but this software neglect is becoming a dealbreaker.

[SmartHomeH-TAGS]

I am VERY interested and excited to see what these newly released IKEA smart home products can do with Matter over Thread.

I am hoping that I can connect them to my Google Nest Hubs and then Alexa as I don't have any Amazon Thread Border Routers.

Maybe Alexa has button integration.

With Google it's going to be a slower process than what they were expecting to happen when changing from the Google Assistant to Gemini Assistant.

There are quite a few smart home, triggers, actions and features that were/are still available in Assistant Routines that haven't been transferred over to the new Google Home app.

Triggers like smart speaker volume...

https://youtu.be/u6alcb-hiDc

But I'm hopeful that Google will get their act together as I've seen a lot of promising features added to Google Home that I wasn't expecting... like Conditions.

[LaziYeti]

I've just come across this issue myself, I've bought a few of IKEA's cheap Matter switches and come to find that there's no compatibility with Google Home; I take it there's no ETA for when this will be implemented? They're ON/OFF switches, for goodness sake, not an entirely new type of highly advanced multi sensor gadget. If Matter is suppose to be a new standard, why hasn't Google integrated that standard into it's products?

[SmartHomeH-TAGS]

@LaziYeti I suppose Matter gives you the opportunity to use other systems like Alexa, Siri, etc to get automations/routines to work.

With smart buttons/switches I assume you wouldn't need a speaker to get them working. Just the app?!

[jirimrazek]

Matter is the standard where it should stop having to deal with what someone uses at home and whether they use Amazon, Google or Apple. Unfortunately, Google is the only one where the buttons within the automation do not work at all, they are dead.

[SmartHomeH-TAGS]

Can you add them to Google?

Do you see the greyed out "Support coming soon" tile?

If so, I'm hopeful that support will eventually happen as in the previous version speakers could be used as triggers, but they're greyed out here.

 

[jirimrazek]

Yes I see support coming soon for 2 years. You probably hope so, I've lost my hope.

[Kaipyy]

Same problem - kinda pissed
Thought it be an easy thing to connect it - but yeah thanks for nothing ...
Currently can't even use my window 'Open/Close' sensors in the Home App, which was possible some time ago (and I am quite glad that this script still works) 

Hope they will update that soon-ish ..

[SmartHomeH-TAGS]

@Kaipyy the Matter compatibility probably screwed everything up for everyone as previously we had the "Works with Google" or "Works with Alexa" logos that showed that specific product's compatibility. Now it's just one or more ecosystem, but it's up to you to discover which is compatible.

It wasn't perfect as Wi-Fi sensors could Work with Google, but couldn't trigger automations, although Google can tell us whether they're open or not.

[Kaipy]

Hm 

So beides waiting and hoping they will work on it/fix it 

Anything we could do / try?

[arm_dpe · Accepted solution]

Thanks for reaching out! It is definitely frustrating that Google Home app doesn't support these types of switches yet, but there is some positive movement behind the scenes. Google has already updated its backend APIs to technically recognize these Matter buttons.  A great tip for the future is to use the Supported devices page as a "pre-purchase" checklist. It is the most reliable way to see exactly what Google is capable of triggering at any given moment. Since these buttons require a brand-new device type and traits (rather than just a simple On/Off toggle), this page will be the first place to officially confirm when they are ready for action.

Google is currently in a rapid release cycle, adding new device types frequently as they push toward new matter compatibility. It’s worth keeping an eye on that list—those IKEA buttons might be supported sooner.

[SmartHomeH-TAGS]

@arm_dpe 

Thank you ♥️

[J_K]

This is extremely frustrating.

I own a Google TV Streamer (4K), which is advertised as supporting Matter version 1.3:
https://csa-iot.org/csa_product/google-tv-streamer/

Based on this, I purchased six IKEA KLIPPBOK water leak sensors, which are also certified for Matter 1.3:
https://csa-iot.org/csa_product/klippbok-water-leak-sensor-2/

Naturally, I assumed that the Google Home app, which is required to use the Google TV Streamer as a Matter controller, would also support Matter 1.3. However, Google Home is only certified for Matter 1.0:
https://csa-iot.org/csa_product/google-home-for-android-2/

As a result, while the sensors can be paired and appear in the Google Home app, they are effectively useless. I can see the devices, but I cannot:

• Create automations
• Receive notifications when a water leak is detected
• Perform any meaningful interaction with the sensors

Matter 1.3 explicitly adds support for water leak sensors:
https://matter-smarthome.de/en/development/matter-1-3-a-deep-dive-into-the-new-features/

This creates a misleading situation where:

• Google claims the Google TV Streamer supports Matter 1.3
• The required control app (Google Home) does not
• Users are left with connected devices that do not function as intended

I feel completely misled by Google’s Matter support claims. Advertising Matter 1.3 support while relying on a controller app that only supports Matter 1.0 is, at best, careless, and at worst, deceptive.

If Google Home does not support Matter 1.3 features, then the Google TV Streamer’s Matter certification should be revoked or downgraded to Matter 1.0, to accurately reflect what users can actually do with Matter devices.

As it stands, this is not genuine Matter 1.3 support, and customers are paying the price for that discrepancy.