We are developing a Matter-certified device using the On/Off Plug-in Unit (0x010A). The device functions correctly; however, we have encountered an issue that is hindering our product launch.
Across the ecosystem, including Home Assistant, this unit type is consistently displayed as a generic “Switch” UI, regardless of the userLabel or ProductName settings.
This leads to the following two concerns:
Branding – The “Switch” label and toggle icon do not accurately represent the product’s actual purpose and do not align with its intended identity.
Safety – Users may interpret the device as a standard switch and operate it in inappropriate situations, which could potentially lead to safety risks.
Questions:
• Are there any manufacturer-supported methods—beyond relying on users to rename the device—such as alternative unit types, additional clusters, or metadata, that can influence how the device is presented in the UI?
• Are there any known patterns or best practices adopted by other manufacturers to address this issue?
As we are seeking a solution within the Matter ecosystem, guidance on a specification-compliant approach would be greatly appreciated.
Can you provide a screen shot when using Home Assistant to describe what is being displayed that is causing the concern?
Next, maybe provide a mock up of a similar screen shot of what you would like for it to look like.
Might be helpful to describe the intended application and safety limits of concern.
If this is more of a low-current relay and not a high-voltage A/C switch, then I myself am not so sure that it can be addressed using standard Matter Clusters. For example, some A/C switches are fine with carrying currents of a light bulb, but not good carrying currents of a high-inductance motor being switched on/off, in which case its usually up to the user to be aware of the limits by reading the device specification.
The attached images show how our device is currently displayed across different platforms. This is not a Home Assistant-specific issue — the same result appears across all platforms.
The closest example of what we are looking for is actually a screenshot captured from Home Assistant in July last year, when HA was displaying the UserLabel value directly in the UI. That is the behavior we would like to see.
It was possible to display not only switches but also modes. (Modes were created using a combination of ON/OFF clusters.)
Your point about A/C switches is exactly the problem we have been thinking about. A device may be rated for light bulb currents but not for high-inductance motor loads — and today, there is no standard way to express that distinction in Matter. Users have to read the specification manually.
As AI systems begin to control physical devices, they must make decisions with little to no structured information — relying on inference alone. That is not safe enough.
We have been exploring whether Matter’s existing FixedLabel structure could carry exactly this kind of information — manufacturer-defined operational boundaries that platforms and AI systems could read directly, without inference.
