Meross smart UK plug - unable to add to HA?

[shrewd pewter]

Hi all. Just getting up and running with HA Green as of yesterday.

I have a Meross smart plug (MSS315) which is apparently Matter (not zigbee?) and would obviously love to add it to my new HA setup.

Initial research has led me down the path of getting HACS for HA, so I can add the Meross LAN custom integration.

I've successfully installed HACS. But before I install the Meross LAN integration, the videos I've seen are telling me I need to add the plug itself to the Meross app first. So I've opened the Meross app and attempted this. Selected the plug model... but it immediately tells me I need to add it to another Smart Home hub first (?!?!) and the only options are: HomeKit, Alexa, Google Home or SmartThings.

If I choose HomeKit, it tells me I need an Apple hub (AppleTV or HomePod), but I don't have either of those devices. I've previously used the Apple Home app for other 3rd party ecosystem devices like Aqara (I have the G2H Pro camera/hub in there that works fine), so thought I'd just scan the QR code on the Meross plug... the Apple Home app opens, it tells me it'll take a couple of minutes to pair/add the device, but then fails after a minute of waiting, during which the plug clicks and sounds like it's connecting etc... (have tried multiple times, it just fails to be added to Apple Home).

Any thoughts? Do I need an Apple hub AS WELL just to add this plug to HA? Seems a bit excessive. I thought the point was that I could use any system.

The plug uses Matter, and I did buy the ZBT-1 dongle with the HA Green and configured it to be Zigbee when I initially plugged it in/added it to HA, but maybe I should re-configure it to run Matter, if that would help?

In the Meross app, if I select SmartThings, it tells me I need to use the SmartThings app... so... is that compatible with HA?

So confused... and it's only day 2! 😖 Any help appreciated!

[shrewd pewter]

OK. Have been investigating further, but still to no avail. Read up on Matter. Saw that it's only in BETA. Installed the BETA plugin for HA.

I've checked my router is set up with IPv6 support.

Re-configured the SkyConnect dongle for Matter.

Found a good video from Reed... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_Q2cwTgPd8&t=145s

So, after configuring SkyConnect for Matter, and getting the Matter server running (I believe), I went back into the HA iOS app, tried to add the Matter device... but it times out after initially scanning and recognising the plug.

It's failed a couple of different ways:

1: Unable to Add Accessory / Home couldn't connect to this accessory.
2: Unable to connect to network / Make sure the network can reach your accessory, reset the accessory and try adding to your home again.

This is all with the HA / dongle, phone and plug within a metre of each other.

Anything else I should be investigating?

[shrewd pewter]

OK, I rebooted everything. Now I'm seeing this (it's been stuck on this, even though it says "will retry"). I don't know what to do next.