The latest Google Home app is improving support for local network control over Matter devices, including Philips Hue lights.

While most tend to think of Philips Hue as a lighting setup powered by a cloud-connected hub, Hue adopted Matter a while back. Now, Philips Hue is automatically able to connect to Google Home hubs for local control through the Home app.

Google says:

Local Matter control for Philips Hue lights: Existing Philips Hue bridges now automatically upgrade in the background to local Matter control through Google Home hubs, delivering faster response times and greater reliability with no re-pairing required.

Absolutely a welcome upgrade here.

While Philips Hue is already pretty responsive in the Google Home app, having local Matter control is only going to make these lights faster. The fact that it works without re-pairing is just a cherry on top. This should also allow the Home app to control Hue lights during an internet outage, so long as you device is on the same network.

Meanwhile, this same update is also improving local control over Matter devices as a whole, with “faster response times and enhanced reliability.”

This latest Google Home app update should also bring a nice visual refresh, as Google says it has redesigned “core controls for third-party lights, plugs, and switches,” which should apply to Hue devices.

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