Google Home Finally Shows Matter Energy Data and Knows a Garage Door From a Gate

One of the quiet frustrations with Matter has been that a device can support a feature and your app can still ignore it. You buy an energy-monitoring plug, add it to Google Home, and get an on/off button. You add a Matter garage door opener, and the app shows it as a gate.

Google's October 29 release notes fix both of those on Android, along with a batch of Gemini bugs that were annoying a lot of households.

Matter energy data, on the tile

From the notes: "Compatible Matter smart plugs and energy monitors that measure cumulative energy usage now display both real-time power (mW) and total energy consumed (kWh) directly on their device tiles and controller screens."

Two things to notice. First, it only applies to devices that measure cumulative energy, so a plug that only reports instant power may not show the kWh figure. Second, the notes say real-time power is in "mW." Most apps show plugs in watts. That may be a typo in notes Google says are written with Gemini's help, so don't be surprised if your tile reads W instead.

Why I care: until now, if you wanted to see what your space heater or dehumidifier actually costs to run, you needed the plug maker's own app or a platform like Home Assistant. Having the number in Google Home makes those plugs more useful for people who only use Google Home.

Closures that look like what they are

Also Android: "The app now recognizes specific Matter closure types—including garage doors, gates, windows, blinds, and cabinets—displaying the correct device icon and controls instead of treating every closure as a generic gate."

This sounds cosmetic. It isn't, quite. When everything is a "gate," it's easy to tap the wrong tile, and the controls for a blind (partly open) and a garage door (open or closed) aren't the same. Getting the type right is what makes Matter's promise of "buy any brand" hold up in the app.

The Gemini fixes

These are in the Gemini for Home early access section, and they're the ones people complain about out loud:

Phantom replies. Speakers and displays could "occasionally say 'Sorry, I didn't understand' unprompted when no one had spoken to the device." Fixed.
Silent alarms. A bug set alarm and timer volumes to zero. Google says they'll now match the device volume. If anyone in your house missed an alarm recently, this may be why.
Wrong-room volume. Asking to change the volume in another room could change it on the device you were talking to, if the other one couldn't be found. Fixed.
Timer confusion. Gemini sometimes mixed up media sleep timers, normal timers and alarms. Fixed.
Moving music. Better handling of "move Mozart to the living room" or "bring the music here."

The other fixes worth knowing

Wi-Fi 7 routers. Google fixed setup and connection failures that kept smart speakers from joining Wi-Fi 7 access points using WPA3. If you upgraded your router and a speaker wouldn't reconnect, this is the fix to look for.
Nest Wifi Pro now fails over to your ISP's DNS when public DNS is blocked.
Older Nest cameras whose software updates moved to the Google Home app (Nest Cam Indoor and Outdoor 1st gen, Nest Hello, Nest Cam IQ) got fixes for Wi-Fi reconnection, night-vision switching and audio sync on the Hello.
Thread settings on iOS are easier to back out of.
Home Premium subscribers get a page listing their features, under your profile.

The fine print

Google says two things at the top of the page that apply to all of this. The release notes "are generated with the help of Gemini and may require updates or corrections," and "some features may take time to roll out to everyone." The two Matter changes are labeled Android, and the notes don't say when iPhone users get them.

What I'd do

If you've got Matter energy plugs in Google Home on Android, update the app and look at the tile. If the kWh number shows up, you finally have a reason to leave those plugs in Google Home instead of the maker's app. If you've got a Matter garage opener or blinds that were showing as gates, check those too.

This builds on Google's October move to local Matter control for Hue bridges. It's not flashy, but Google Home is filling in the Matter basics, which is what makes Matter devices worth buying for Google households.