In 2021, smart lighting specialist Nanoleaf announced that it was going to integrate smart home protocol Thread into all its future smart lighting products.

Thread enables devices to connect up in a mesh network even where Wi-Fi is poor - ensuring that all smart devices in your own work reliably and can talk to each other. Thread is backed by Apple, Google and Amazon among other companies. Many more devices are expected to support the standard in future. 

Now Nanoleaf has announced it is going to open up Thread support to all Thread over HomeKit products.

Nanoleaf has worked closely with Apple and the Thread Group to create this update to be released early in 2022. That update is intended to help create a more accessible and universal smart home experience that works seamlessly. 

The update is set to allow Thread Border Routers (Nanoleaf Shapes, Elements and Lines) to work with all Thread over HomeKit devices including the Nanoleaf Essentials Bulb & Lightstrip, Apple TV 4K and several Eve devices.

The long term plan is to create a more reliable smart home and to make it so any Matter over Thread devices will work well with the system as they're released in future.

Because Thread is a mesh system, it isn't reliant on a central hub like a Zigbee or Wi-Fi network for example, while it has super-low latency, range is a key benefit, meaning you can have smart home devices outside of the range of your Wi-Fi network. 

Every time you add a Thread-enabled product to your home you'll be expanding your network and making it much stronger. 

Nanoleaf Essentials Smart Lightbulb - E27

Amazon

Nanoleaf also says it's working with the Connectivity Standards Alliance to support Matter in its current product line and future products too.