Home LivingSmart HomeApple’s iOS 18 smart home upgrade will light up your life – automaticallyApple is bringing adaptive lighting to Matter smart bulbs and lightsWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

Home LivingSmart HomeApple’s iOS 18 smart home upgrade will light up your life – automaticallyApple is bringing adaptive lighting to Matter smart bulbs and lightsWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

Apple is bringing adaptive lighting to Matter smart bulbs and lights

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

(Image credit: Nanoleaf)

Nanoleaf Matter over Thread

(Image credit: Nanoleaf)

Quick SummaryApple’s Adaptive Lighting feature, which enables your lights to change colour temperature automatically, is now coming to Matter-enabled smart lights and bulbs. The upgrade will arrive in iOS 18.

Apple’s Adaptive Lighting feature, which enables your lights to change colour temperature automatically, is now coming to Matter-enabled smart lights and bulbs. The upgrade will arrive in iOS 18.

Apple’s Adaptive Lighting feature, which enables your lights to change colour temperature automatically, is now coming to Matter-enabled smart lights and bulbs. The upgrade will arrive in iOS 18.

Apple’s Adaptive Lighting feature, which enables your lights to change colour temperature automatically, is now coming to Matter-enabled smart lights and bulbs. The upgrade will arrive in iOS 18.

One of the most interesting smart home features inApple’s HomeKit platform is Adaptive Lighting, a clever feature that changes the tone of your smart lights from dawn till dusk. It’s been there sinceiOS14 but it’s also quite limited in terms of the lights you can use with it: you can use HomeKit-compliant Nanoleaf lights andPhilips Hue lightsand only a few other firms' products. However, that’s about to change with iOS 18.

The big difference? Matter. With iOS 18 Apple is bringingMattersupport to the Adaptive Lighting feature, and that means it’ll work with a much wider ecosystem of smart lights and smart bulbs. The feature leaked via Nanoleaf users on Reddit, who spotted a toggle in the iOS 18 beta for their Nanoleaf Matter bulbs; Nanoleaf has since confirmed toThe Vergethat it’s one of the launch partners for Adaptive Lighting for Matter products.

What is Adaptive Lighting?

Adaptive Lighting takes advantage of lights that can change their colour temperature, which is how warm or cool the white tones are: warmer tones are yellowish like old incandescent bulbs, and cooler ones are more blue, like LED car headlights.

Adaptive Lighting adjusts those tones over the course of the day to make your lighting work much like daylight does. So you’ll wake to warm, sunrise-y tones, but as the day progresses the colour temperature will become cooler to help you focus on getting things done. As the day turns to night the colours warm up again, cutting blue light and helping you get ready for a good night’s sleep.

The feature works really well, but up till now it’s been exclusive to HomeKit-compliant products – and that’s a subset of the much larger smart bulb market, which is increasingly embracing the Matter interoperability standard. That’s particularly true of more affordable brands and sub-brands; getting the HomeKit label has traditionally been rather expensive, a cost that some firms haven’t been willing to incur.

For the time being, Adaptive Lighting-compatible Matter lights and bulbs will only deliver the feature in Apple smart homes; it’s an Apple feature, not a Matter one. But it’s likely that we’ll see similar options for other platforms too.

Today’s best Nanoleaf Matter Essentials Smart Bulb deals1 Amazon customer review☆☆☆☆☆$19.99$14.99View$49.99$29.99View$49.99ViewShow More DealsWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices

Today’s best Nanoleaf Matter Essentials Smart Bulb deals1 Amazon customer review☆☆☆☆☆$19.99$14.99View$49.99$29.99View$49.99ViewShow More DealsWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices

Today’s best Nanoleaf Matter Essentials Smart Bulb deals

1 Amazon customer review☆☆☆☆☆

1 Amazon customer review☆☆☆☆☆

☆☆☆☆☆

$19.99$14.99View$49.99$29.99View$49.99View

$19.99$14.99View

$19.99$14.99View

Nanoleaf - Essentials A19…

Best Buy

$19.99$14.99View

$19.99$14.99

$14.99

$49.99$29.99View

$49.99$29.99View

Nanoleaf Essentials Smart LED…

Amazon

Prime

$49.99$29.99View

$49.99$29.99

$29.99

$49.99View

$49.99View

Nanoleaf Essentials Matter…

Walmart

$49.99View

$49.99

$49.99

Show More Deals

Show More Deals

We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices

We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices

Sign up to the T3 newsletter for smarter living straight to your inbox

Get all the latest news, reviews, deals and buying guides on gorgeous tech, home and active products from the T3 experts

Bowers & Wilkins Pi6 review

Bowers & Wilkins Pi6 review: sensational sound, ordinary ANCBowers & Wilkins' step-down true wireless earbuds sound amazing and are well-priced – so what’s the catch, if anything?

Bowers & Wilkins' step-down true wireless earbuds sound amazing and are well-priced – so what’s the catch, if anything?

Woman doing leg raises on the floor

Try this 4-week core workout plan to build strength, stability, and definitionUnlock full-body power with this simple yet effective core routine – no endless crunches, just real results

Unlock full-body power with this simple yet effective core routine – no endless crunches, just real results