The latest core update for Home Assistant, version 2025.12 beta 0, focuses on refining the platform’s Matter smart home integration, specifically enhancing support for sensors, door locks, and window coverings. These enhancements are aimed at improving stability and providing more granular control over specialized devices.
This is a relatively smaller update for Matter, compared to previous major feature drops, as mainstream device types are now reaching a more complete experience within Home Assistant. The focus has shifted toward adding depth to existing device classes and exposing advanced configuration options that were previously hidden.
Enhanced control for sensors
Users of occupancy and PIR sensors from brands like Heiman and Aqara will now benefit from significantly more detailed control. This update adds support for the Matter “CurrentSensitivityLevel” attribute, which allows users to directly configure how responsive their sensors are to movement. This is particularly useful for fine-tuning automation behavior, such as preventing pets from triggering lights or ensuring a sensor picks up subtle movements in a home office.
Currently, the Presence Multi-Sensor FP300 and the Motion and Light Sensor P2 from Aqara running the latest firmware will support this feature. Users can select from three distinct sensitivity levels: Low, Standard, and High. Heiman has also begun rolling out support for this capability, having released test firmware for its Motion Sensor M1 via Matter OTA, with an official public release expected after further testing.
Better door lock security
Security features for Matter door locks have also been extended to offer more versatile management options. Home Assistant now supports selecting the “OperatingMode” on compatible Matter locks, giving users control over how the lock behaves in different scenarios. Instead of just locking and unlocking, users can now dictate the specific security state of the device based on their current needs.
For example, on the Matter 1.4 door lock from Xthings Ultraloq, this feature exposes five distinct modes: Normal, Vacation, Privacy, No remote lock/unlock, and Passage. This allows for powerful automations, such as automatically setting a lock to “Privacy” mode at night or “Passage” mode during a party. Additionally, a minor but important fix was included to correct the spelling of “Auto-relock time” in the Matter integration strings, ensuring the interface looks professional and polished.
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Improved device status and diagnostics
Home Assistant 2025.12 beta0 provides better clarity regarding the status of various Matter devices. For window coverings, the update includes the addition of the Matter window covering operational status. This means users can now get direct alarms on a blind's working state. This real-time feedback is crucial for troubleshooting automations that rely on such window coverings.
Several stability improvements are included to ensure more reliable communication. The update fixes the handling of the “Matter ValveFault” attribute, which ensures that if a smart valve encounters an error, such as a blockage or mechanical failure, the system correctly reports it to the user.
Furthermore, Home Assistant improves diagnostics by classifying the “Identify” button as a Diagnostic element within Matter. Previously, this button was grouped in the Configuration section, often cluttering the interface with a function that is rarely used after initial setup.
Better integration across ecosystems
The update also includes improvements for users who incorporate SmartThings devices into their Home Assistant setup. The 2025.12 release adds Matter device information connected via SmartThings Integration in Core. This addition helps bridge essential data and improve interoperability for devices connecting through the Samsung platform, ensuring that Home Assistant can better understand and identify Matter devices that are bridged to Home Assistant.
These targeted enhancements ensure that Home Assistant’s commitment to providing a powerful and reliable Matter smart home experience continues, moving beyond basic connectivity to offer a truly professional-grade control environment.
Core and Supervised deprecation
Following a six-month warning period, support for Home Assistant Core and Supervised installation methods, along with all 32-bit system architectures, has been officially removed. These configurations will no longer receive critical security patches or feature updates.
If you are still using one of these setups, we strongly recommend migrating to Home Assistant OS on a 64-bit host as soon as possible. This move is essential to maintain security and ensure an optimized experience for demanding integrations like Matter.
Read more if you are looking for a supported device for Home Assistant OS.
Check the full change logs for Home Assistant 2025.12 b0 here.
(Source: Home Assistant, GitHub; Image Source: Home Assistant)
