The Matter protocol is quickly becoming the backbone of smart home interoperability — allowing devices from different brands to work together across ecosystems like Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and SmartThings.
But what if your devices don’t support Matter natively? For a very long time, adding Zigbee devices to Apple Home was nearly impossible for most users.
Zigbee and Apple Home use completely different protocols — and Apple never provided native Zigbee support in HomeKit. Unless you were using special hardware like the Philips Hue Bridge (which only works with certain lights), there was simply no direct way to bring general-purpose Zigbee devices — like smart switches or sensors — into the Apple ecosystem.
Some advanced users turned to complex setups with Home Assistant, Zigbee2MQTT, and Homebridge, creating custom bridges and scripts. But this required deep technical knowledge, constant maintenance, and came with no official support.
In short: for everyday users, Zigbee + Apple Home just didn’t mix — until now.
That’s where Matter Bridges come in — and CUBE OS takes full advantage of this technology.
What Is a Matter Bridge?
A Matter Bridge is like a translator between two worlds.
It allows non-Matter devices (such as Zigbee or legacy WiFi devices) to appear in Matter ecosystems as if they were native Matter devices.
In simple terms:
Your devices stay as they are, but the smart home platform sees them as Matter-ready.
For example, a Zigbee light bulb or switch or sensor that has no built-in Matter support can still be controlled via Apple Home — as long as a Matter Bridge speaks on its behalf.
Give Your Legacy eWeLink supported WiFi Devices a New ‘Apple home’ Life with CUBE OS Matter Bridge
With CUBE OS, you don’t need to buy extra hubs or install complicated software.
Once installed, CUBE OS includes a Matter Bridge feature that can expose supported Zigbee and WiFi devices directly to Matter ecosystems.
That means:
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You can add Zigbee smart switches, sensors, lights, and more to Apple Home
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These devices show up just like native HomeKit devices
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You can control them using Siri, your Apple Watch, HomePod, or iPad
And all of this runs locally — no cloud-to-cloud dependency, no vendor lock-in.
Zigbee to Apple Home — in Just a Few Steps
We tried it ourselves using a Zigbee sensor paired via CUBE OS.
Here’s what the process looked like:
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Set up CUBE OS
Run it on your Raspberry Pi, NAS, or even in a virtual machine.
Check here for the guidelines and images if you haven’t set up one. -
Plug in a compatible Zigbee dongle
CUBE OS works great with SONOFF Zigbee Dongles and others supported by Zigbee2CUBE. -
Add your Zigbee devices
Once connected, your devices appear inside CUBE OS — ready to use. -
Enable the Matter Bridge Addon
From the UI, generate a Matter pairing code. -
Open Apple Home and scan the code
The Zigbee sensor will now show up like any other HomeKit device.
No code. No manual JSON editing. No YAML. Just click and pair.
Why It’s a Changer
For years, bridging ecosystems meant installing plugins, writing configs, or buying extra hubs.
With CUBE OS:
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Zigbee stays Zigbee — but behaves like Matter
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Apple Home becomes your unified interface
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Local control = faster + more private
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You can mix Zigbee, WiFi, and Matter devices all in one system
And yes — it works with voice control through Siri, as well as automations via the Apple Home app.
Coming Soon: Even More Possibilities
CUBE OS is already working on expanding Matter Bridge support to more device types — including thermostats, curtains, energy monitors, and more.
We’re also collaborating with the community to streamline compatibility and testing for popular Zigbee devices.
We warmly welcome your feedback and suggestions — especially specific feature requests or device compatibility needs (like particular Zigbee models you’d like to see supported).
Share your ideas with us in the eWeLink Forum or in our Discord community.
The more we hear from you, the better we can prioritize and improve the Matter Bridge experience.
Get Started Today
Already have Zigbee devices at home? Check out our video guide.
Install CUBE OS
Plug in a Zigbee dongle and pairing/onboarding the Zigbee devices
Enable the Matter Bridge, sync the Zigbee gadgets to Apple home
Enjoy full Apple ecosystem integration — control your devices via Siri, Apple Home app, Apple Watch, iPad, or HomePod.
Let your Zigbee devices join the Matter party — without replacing them.