AiDot, a smart home platform that connects devices across brands and ecosystems, was founded in 2021 in California. The AiDot app is the central part of the platform for controlling all smart home devices installed in your home. No matter where you are, you can control “Works with AiDot” devices in your home, including lights, switches, outlets, cameras, sensors, and household appliances, or create scenes and automation around your routines.
“Works with AiDot” (WWA) is a mark of interconnectivity across different brands and categories. You can easily control any product featuring the WWA label with AiDot app. Brands that have joined the AiDot ecosystem include well-known smart device brands, such as Linkind, OREiN, Winees, WELOV, etc.
AiDot is a member of the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) and is now focused on building the connectivity between their products and others through the use of the Matter protocol.
Matter is a protocol standard for local smart home communication. It leverages existing technologies including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Thread. Matter allows smart home devices to work together as a single, integrated system, even during an internet outage.
AiDot offers Matter-compatible smart bulbs, smart plugs, smart switches, and now, the first Matter-compatible air purifier. AiDot has sold 130,000 Matter-certified light bulbs that have been activated by more than 50,000 users. AiDot envisions complete Matter compatibility of its products within 2024. AiDot’s Matter-compatible products can be found on their website.
Version 1.2 of the Matter protocol specification was released in October, 2023. This new version of the protocol included support for home appliances, room air conditioners, robot vacuum cleaners, smoke/carbon monoxide alarms, fans, air quality sensors, and air purifiers.
AiDot Matter Compatible Products
AiDot provided me with a selection of their Matter compatible products to test for this article. These are pictured right.
AiDot offers five different color-changing smart bulbs that all include support for Matter. They are sold under the OREiN and Linkind brands. These include:
AiDot Linkind Matter Version BR30 WiFi Smart Flood Light Bulb
AiDot Linkind Matter Version A19 Smart WiFi RGBW Light Bulb
AiDot OREiN A19 Matter Smart Reliable WiFi Light Bulbs
These bulbs are very easy to use, offer seamless compatibility with smart assistants, and when used with a compatible sync box, can change color and intensity in tune with TV watching and music to create an immersive viewing environment.
AiDot also offers two smart Edison style bulbs:
AiDot Linkind G25 Matter Smart Light Bulbs
AiDot Linkind ST64 Matter Enabled Smart Edison Bulbs
In addition, AiDot offers:
AiDot Linkind Matter Compatible Smart Plugs
AiDot Linkind Matter Compatible Smart Dimmer Switches
Finally, AiDot has just released the world’s first Matter-compatible air purifier, the WELOV P200 Pro
The P200 Pro air purifier includes 3-Stage filtration technology, whereby a pre filter captures hair and large particles, an H13 True HEPA filter removes pollen, smoke, and other small particles, and an activated carbon filter removes volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and odors.
The P200 Pro is capable of cleaning the air in a 315 sq. ft. room in only 12 minutes and it can clean the air in a room as large as 1570 sq. ft. room within an hour. In addition, it can perform real-time monitoring of the room’s environment, including PM2.5 particulates. PM2.5 particles are 2.5 micrometers in diameter — less than 30 times smaller than a human hair.
An advanced feature of the P200 Pro is its Sleep Mode. By default, this mode operates the fan speed at the lowest level to minimize the noise in a bedroom. However, using the AiDot app, the unit can be linked with Apple Health so that adjustments can automatically be made to the purifier’s settings depending on homeowner’s sleep stage. This can provide for higher air quality in the bedroom when a higher fan speed won’t disturb the homeowner because they are experiencing deeper sleep and REM.
There are three different filters available for the P200 Pro:
Standard Filter – This filter is adept at capturing common airborne pollutants and allergens. It is effective at neutralizing smoke, and removing unwanted gases (VOCs)
Pet Care Filter – This filter is enhanced for pet care. It is specifically designed to capture pet dander, hair, pollen, pet odors, and other allergens
Toxin Absorber Filter – This filter includes twice the activated carbon as the standard filter. It is tailored for new homes with formaldehyde concerns. It excels in neutralizing toxins, wildfire smoke, VOCs, and other pollutant gases
Advantages of Matter and Integration
The goal of Matter is to provide a standard way to integrate products from different manufactures so they can work together in a smart home. Integration provides a number of interesting advantages. For example, smart lights, appliances connected to a smart plug, and smart air purifiers can all be turned off when the home isn’t occupied to save energy. This also extends the life of the air purifier’s filter.
Smart lights and appliances connected to smart plugs can be turned out, and smart air purifiers can automatically be set to Sleep Mode, when the homeowners go to bed and trigger a good night macro. Smart lights also can slowly be turned on in the morning, just before an alarm clock is scheduled to “go off,” to simulate sunrise and more naturally reduce the amount of sleep hormones in the body
Color changing smart bulbs can be coordinated with the changes of the color of the sun throughout the day to support the circadian rhythms of the homeowners. A routine for doing this is even built into the AiDot app.
A color changing smart bulb can be used to inform the homeowners of the air quality in the home; green for good air quality, red for poor air quality, etc. This is a much easier indicator of air quality for people to quickly see than having to pull out their smart phone to view the information or walk across the room to look at the display on the purifier. It can also be especially useful for people with a hearing disability who wouldn’t be aware of the air purifier automatically changing to a higher fan speed due to it sensing poor air quality when the purifier is in Auto Mode.
Hands-on with AiDot’s Matter-Compatible Products
To integrate AiDot’s Matter-compatible devices with your smart home is very easy. However, to accomplish this you will need a Matter-compatible ecosystem such as Apple Home, Google Home, Amazon Alexa, or SmartThings. Only specific hubs from these manufacturers support Matter, so you need to check the manufacturer’s website to validate whether Matter is supported by your device.
I used a Matter-compatible, third-generation Apple TV 4K for this article along with the associated Apple Home app.
To add Matter-compatible devices to Apple Home, start by selecting “add a new device” in the Apple Home app. Then simply scan the QR code on the AiDot device. That is all there is too it.
You can independently connect these devices to the AiDot app, which can be downloaded using the QR code in the installation manual. The AiDot app may provide more detailed control of a device than is exposed through Matter. It is also a valuable tool to validate that the device is working properly in the case you have a problem with your Matter ecosystem.
In some cases, I found that the process of adding the devices directly to Apple Home through Matter could be a little finicky. In my experimenting, I found that it was more reliable to first add the devices to the AiDot app and then proceed with the process of adding them to Apple Home.
In addition, I wanted to use these devices with my Matter-compatible Hubitat Elevation hub. To link the devices with my hub I followed the procedure I outlined in my article Integrating Matter-Compatible Devices with a Crestron Smart Home. Again, this only takes a few minutes to accomplish.
AiDot tests all of their Matter-compatible products with the primary Matter ecosystems, including Apple Home, Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and SmartThings. In my own testing, which included a Matter compatible Hubitat Elevation C-8 hub, I found that the AiDot/LinKind RGBTW, WiFi Smart Light Bulb, and the AiDot/LinKind Smart Plug both worked perfectly with both Apple Home and the Hubitat. The AiDot/LinKind Smart Dimmer Switch worked perfectly with Apple Home but would only operate as a smart switch, instead of a smart dimmer, using the Hubitat. I reported this issue to Hubitat and they are working to resolve the problem.
Finally, what I also discovered was that Apple Home doesn’t yet support Matter 1.2-compatible air purifiers, including the AiDot P200 Pro. AiDot has told me that this is also the case for SmartThings and Google Home. All of these platforms are working on this issue. According to AiDot, SmartThings should release support in early June with the other platforms, adding support sometime later.
In the meantime, the AiDot P200 Pro air purifier can be fully controlled using the AiDot app, which offers full control of all the features of the purifier and the ability to create automations and schedules.
The automations that can be created using the AiDot app are very useful. Because the purifier’s built-in air quality monitor is operational even when the purifier itself is turned off, automations can be created to turn the purifier on when the air quality in a room becomes poor and turn it off when the air quality becomes good. This can both save energy and increase the life of the purifier’s filter.
Schedules can be created that not only turn the purifier on/off at specific times, but also set the mode and fan speed of the purifier. So, the purifier could automatically be turned on in Sleep Mode at night and turned on in Auto Mode during the day.
Scenes, automations that operate on multiple devices at once, can also be created. For example, multiple smart lights can be adjusted to a dim level for watching a movie or lights and appliances (connected to a smart plug) can automatically be turned on at sunset.
All of the above is very easy to accomplish using the AiDot app, which I found very easy to use.
AiDot products are available through the company’s website or on Amazon where they host stores for their different brands including Linkind, OREiN, Winees, ENHULK, and the WELOV store where you can find the P200 Pro air purifier.
Summary & Conclusions
I have heard many “nay-sayers” online who didn’t believe that the Matter protocol would be successful. They are being proven wrong. The Matter protocol specification has gone through its third release, and we are seeing more and more products that include Matter protocol support. These are not just products that have been announced, but products that are available for purchase.
Matter isn’t perfect. It is still a maturing standard. But, with time, I expect it will get better and better. Matter support for the AiDot P200 Pro air purifier is a good example of this as are the issue controlling the AiDot/LinKind dimmer switch using a Hubitat hub.
Unlike AiDot, there are also examples of a few companies who haven’t done a good job implementing Matter in their products. These have been highlighted in the press.
AiDot, is a leader in releasing a wide selection of different products that include Matter support. Their products work well and are price competitive with similar products from other manufacturers that haven’t even begun to embrace Matter.
