#Adding Matter Devices over GrapheneOS (with Google Play Services)

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

hollow wind
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Hi everyone,

I just bought some of the new IKEA matter devices and am trying to add them via my phone (Pixel 9a). I do run GrapheneOS but have Google Play Services installed with Gcompat.

However, when I try to start the adding peocess via Integrations > Matter > Add new Matter device, it does not go to the QR scanner and instead tells me to install the companion app ... within the companion app 😅

Is this a known issue? My old Pixel 6 with regular Android unfortunately cannot connect to my Thread network for some reason and to my knowledge, there is still not any way to add a Matter Thread Device without a phone.

Thanks in advance for any and all help 🙏

winged hatch
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Have you tried posting this in the "apps" channel on the Graphene OS Discord? You might have better luck.

hollow wind
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No, haven't joined that Discord but will give it a try there, as well. Thanks 👍

hollow wind
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Seems like there is no solution there, as well 😅

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I assume that there is still no way to add Matter devices without a phone?

flint vault
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it's possible to do without a phone (or tablet; any android or ios device with bluetooth should work) but using a phone is recommended. The alternative way requires having an otherwise unused bluetooth adapter on your home assistant system which the matter server add-on can use. (then you're limited to setting up devices within bluetooth range of the home assistant machine)

hollow wind
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I actually didn't give my old tablet a try yet. Maybe that will do..

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Bluetooth range would be fine, though. My flat isn't that big

hollow wind
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Okay, while it can find the device, it tells me that "it needs a Thread Border Router". Curiously, I already have one (using the internal one on the Home Assistant Yellow) and am using two motion sensors on it already which continue to work.

I thought that it had something to do with the Bluetooth radio since I got an error message on that a few weeks ago but even a complete power cycle (which the error message requested then) does not help

flint vault
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(it could also mean that some network problem is preventing your mobile device from being able to talk to the thread border router, but missing credentials is a more common issue)

hollow wind
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Thank you. Will give this a try when I'm back home tomorrow 🙏

hazy breach
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Am also having this problem 😔
Also exact same setup, GrapheneOS on a Pixel 9, I installed the companion app through FDroid

flint vault
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@hazy breach You're getting the Google Play Services provided screen with the "needs a Thread Border Router" error? Did you try syncing credentials following the steps in the link i posted?

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it's also possible that grapheneos is doing something that blocks google play services from being able to do local network discovery properly :/

hazy breach
flint vault
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oh, you installed from FDroid? I think that version of the app might have the google play services code removed, so it's not able to add matter devices.

hazy breach
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Ahhh that makes sense, i'll try play store thanks

flint vault
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so it is in fact asking you to install the app, but it's not very clear as to why :)

hazy breach
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Well, I got further but I get a whole new issue where it thinks I'm not connected to Wi-Fi 😔
Think i'll need to use a different phone for pairing matter devices, thanks for your help <3

flint vault
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yeah, the pairing process is fairly complex and involves finding and talking to the device over BLE, then after the device is sent wifi or thread credentials locating the device on the network via mdns and talking to it to finish setup. So it doesn't really work with any sort of sandboxing or network limitations applied.

hazy breach
limpid lance
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Why does adding Matter devices need Google Play? It should not need Google at all – Matter is an open standard.

flint vault
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the main reason the android app uses google play services is that it allowed development of matter provisioning in the app to be done much faster by making use of a library provided by the phone os (the same is also done on apple phones). It also allows the use of thread credentials from other ecosystems (e.g. if you have a google thread border router) via a shared keyring.

limpid lance
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Ok, I understand. But what are the plans for future? Is it going to stay that way and open operating systems not supported?

Maybe Matter/Thread commissioning should be done in a separate app just for that purpose?

marsh pike
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Tested on my Ikea alpstuga Co2 sensor