“Originally, Matter was supposed to handle enough elements of provisioning and functionality so users wouldn’t have to download an app.”
Matter was announced in December 2019 as the end of smart home lock-in. It shipped three years late, with the hard use cases pushed to later and an app still required for most devices. The local control is the real win. Amazon and Google are already building their own SDKs on top, which is where the lock-in moves next.