Hunter is killing Google Home and Alexa voice commands and automations in favor of Matter

Matter is supposed to make smart homes less complicated, breaking down the walls between competing ecosystems and letting devices from different brands speak the same language. But for Hunter ceiling fan owners, getting everyone on the same page comes with an unexpected twist: the company is retiring the very connections that currently let its fans work with Google Home and Amazon Alexa. And there’s now a deadline attached.

Hunter has been laying the groundwork for this change for months. The company started sending out emails in July (via Reddit) revealing plans to bring Matter support to eligible smart ceiling fans, potentially through firmware updates or replacement Wi-Fi hardware. What sounded like a straightforward connectivity upgrade at the time now has another side to the story: existing Google Home and Alexa integrations are on borrowed time.

In an official announcement published November 5, Hunter confirmed that it will discontinue the legacy cloud connections linking HunterSMART fans to Google Home and Alexa on January 1, 2027. Customers are also receiving emails warning them about the change, as reported by 9to5Google.

Beginning January 1, 2027, Hunter will discontinue the legacy cloud-based connections that currently enable cloud-to-cloud linking between HunterSMART™ app accounts and Google Home and Amazon Alexa. After this date, Google Home and Alexa functionality that relies on this legacy cloud connection will no longer work for HunterSMART™ fans, including voice commands, scenes, and automations.

Once the deadline arrives, affected fans will lose voice commands, scenes, and automations that depend on those cloud connections. That means asking Google Assistant to adjust your fan or having Alexa turn it on as part of a bedtime routine could stop working unless you’ve migrated to Matter.

The good news is that your ceiling fan won’t suddenly become an expensive decoration. Its physical remote, installed controls, and supported functions within the HunterSMART app will continue working. The connection to Google Home and Alexa is what will be rewired.

Hunter’s Matter compatibility database takes much of the guesswork out of the transition. You can search for your fan’s model number or product name to see whether it needs a firmware update or replacement hardware to make the switch. For eligible fans, the transition will replace the old account-linking process with direct Matter setup through Google Home or Alexa. You may also need to rebuild existing routines and automations.

Firmware updates will be free, but Hunter hasn’t clarified whether owners needing replacement hardware will have to pay for it. Upgrade timelines will also vary by model, with further instructions to arrive through the HunterSMART app or registered email addresses.