diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-build.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-build.yml
index 6cac438d5c..e5fd92fe5a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-build.yml
@@ -49,8 +49,6 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           bundle config path vendor/bundle
           bundle install --jobs 4 --retry 3
-      - name: Use right MatrixSDK versions
-        run: bundle exec fastlane point_dependencies_to_related_branches
 
       # Main step
       - name: Build iOS simulator
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-tests.yml
index f78a5aba9c..03c1181dc4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-tests.yml
@@ -54,8 +54,6 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           bundle config path vendor/bundle
           bundle install --jobs 4 --retry 3
-      - name: Use right MatrixSDK versions
-        run: bundle exec fastlane point_dependencies_to_related_branches
 
       # Main step
       - name: Unit tests
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-ui-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-ui-tests.yml
index b13272947f..7f3396c214 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-ui-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-ui-tests.yml
@@ -49,8 +49,6 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           bundle config path vendor/bundle
           bundle install --jobs 4 --retry 3
-      - name: Use right MatrixSDK versions
-        run: bundle exec fastlane point_dependencies_to_related_branches
 
       # Main step
       - name: UI tests
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-alpha.yml b/.github/workflows/release-alpha.yml
index e610628b45..2d90ea3d79 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release-alpha.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-alpha.yml
@@ -57,8 +57,6 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           bundle config path vendor/bundle
           bundle install --jobs 4 --retry 3
-      - name: Use right MatrixSDK versions
-        run: bundle exec fastlane point_dependencies_to_related_branches
 
       # Import alpha release private signing certificate
       - name: Import signing certificate
diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..90f7f83cb4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+[submodule "matrix-ios-sdk"]
+	path = matrix-ios-sdk
+	url = git@github.com:matrix-org/matrix-ios-sdk.git
diff --git a/Podfile b/Podfile
index 3fb43f4179..f6f26f61c8 100644
--- a/Podfile
+++ b/Podfile
@@ -9,44 +9,10 @@ inhibit_all_warnings!
 # Use frameworks to allow usage of pods written in Swift
 use_frameworks!
 
-# Different flavours of pods to MatrixSDK. Can be one of:
-# - a String indicating an official MatrixSDK released version number
-# - `:local` (to use Development Pods)
-# - `{ :branch => 'sdk branch name'}` to depend on specific branch of MatrixSDK repo
-# - `{ :specHash => {sdk spec hash}` to depend on specific pod options (:git => …, :podspec => …) for MatrixSDK repo. Used by Fastfile during CI
-#
-# Warning: our internal tooling depends on the name of this variable name, so be sure not to change it
-$matrixSDKVersion = '= 0.27.8'
-# $matrixSDKVersion = :local
-# $matrixSDKVersion = { :branch => 'develop'}
-# $matrixSDKVersion = { :specHash => { git: 'https://git.io/fork123', branch: 'fix' } }
-
-########################################
-
-case $matrixSDKVersion
-when :local
-$matrixSDKVersionSpec = { :path => '../matrix-ios-sdk/MatrixSDK.podspec' }
-when Hash
-spec_mode, sdk_spec = $matrixSDKVersion.first # extract first and only key/value pair; key is spec_mode, value is sdk_spec
-
-  case spec_mode
-  when :branch
-  # :branch => sdk branch name
-  sdk_spec = { :git => 'https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-ios-sdk.git', :branch => sdk_spec.to_s } unless sdk_spec.is_a?(Hash)
-  when :specHash
-  # :specHash => {sdk spec Hash}
-  sdk_spec = sdk_spec
-  end
-
-$matrixSDKVersionSpec = sdk_spec
-when String # specific MatrixSDK released version
-$matrixSDKVersionSpec = $matrixSDKVersion
-end
-
 # Method to import the MatrixSDK
 def import_MatrixSDK
-  pod 'MatrixSDK', $matrixSDKVersionSpec, :inhibit_warnings => false
-  pod 'MatrixSDK/JingleCallStack', $matrixSDKVersionSpec, :inhibit_warnings => false
+  pod 'MatrixSDK', :path => 'matrix-ios-sdk/MatrixSDK.podspec', :inhibit_warnings => false
+  pod 'MatrixSDK/JingleCallStack', :path => 'matrix-ios-sdk/MatrixSDK.podspec', :inhibit_warnings => false
 end
 
 ########################################
diff --git a/Podfile.lock b/Podfile.lock
index b830adadb2..673d4ecc0d 100644
--- a/Podfile.lock
+++ b/Podfile.lock
@@ -101,8 +101,8 @@ DEPENDENCIES:
   - KeychainAccess (~> 4.2.2)
   - KTCenterFlowLayout (~> 1.3.1)
   - libPhoneNumber-iOS (~> 0.9.13)
-  - MatrixSDK (= 0.27.8)
-  - MatrixSDK/JingleCallStack (= 0.27.8)
+  - MatrixSDK (from `matrix-ios-sdk/MatrixSDK.podspec`)
+  - MatrixSDK/JingleCallStack (from `matrix-ios-sdk/MatrixSDK.podspec`)
   - OLMKit
   - ReadMoreTextView (~> 3.0.1)
   - Reusable (~> 4.1)
@@ -142,7 +142,6 @@ SPEC REPOS:
     - libPhoneNumber-iOS
     - LoggerAPI
     - Logging
-    - MatrixSDK
     - MatrixSDKCrypto
     - OLMKit
     - ReadMoreTextView
@@ -162,6 +161,10 @@ SPEC REPOS:
     - zxcvbn-ios
     - ZXingObjC
 
+EXTERNAL SOURCES:
+  MatrixSDK:
+    :path: matrix-ios-sdk/MatrixSDK.podspec
+
 SPEC CHECKSUMS:
   AFNetworking: 3bd23d814e976cd148d7d44c3ab78017b744cd58
   BlueCryptor: b0aee3d9b8f367b49b30de11cda90e1735571c24
@@ -204,6 +207,6 @@ SPEC CHECKSUMS:
   zxcvbn-ios: fef98b7c80f1512ff0eec47ac1fa399fc00f7e3c
   ZXingObjC: 8898711ab495761b2dbbdec76d90164a6d7e14c5
 
-PODFILE CHECKSUM: 3bbda8faf037705f421dad839d6f5b1aef399f99
+PODFILE CHECKSUM: b622ffadc1a0fe5442787bd9023ca3d110384814
 
 COCOAPODS: 1.15.2
diff --git a/fastlane/Fastfile b/fastlane/Fastfile
index 51e23fe9dc..a2a2dc1c65 100644
--- a/fastlane/Fastfile
+++ b/fastlane/Fastfile
@@ -103,27 +103,6 @@ platform :ios do
   end
 
 
-  desc "Point MatrixSDK to the related branches if such ones exist"
-  lane :point_dependencies_to_related_branches do
-    current_branch = mx_git_branch
-    UI.message("Current branch: #{current_branch}")
-    if current_branch.start_with?("release/")
-        point_dependencies_to_pending_releases
-    else
-        point_dependencies_to_same_feature
-    end
-  end
-
-  desc "Point MatrixSDK to release/*/release branch if it exists, master otherwise"
-  lane :point_dependencies_to_pending_releases do
-    edit_podfile(branch_pattern: "release/*/release", default_branch: "master")
-  end
-
-  desc "Point MatrixSDK to the branch with the same name as the current branch if such one exist, develop otherwise"
-  lane :point_dependencies_to_same_feature do
-    edit_podfile(branch_pattern: mx_git_branch) unless mx_git_branch.to_s.empty?
-  end
-
   desc "Use an app variant. An app variant overwrite default project configuration or ressource files with custom values"
   lane :setup_app_variant do |options|
     appVariantScript = "../Variants/setup_app_variant.sh"    
@@ -473,25 +452,6 @@ platform :ios do
     preprocessor_definitions
   end
 
-  desc "Edit the Podfile in order to point MatrixSDK to the appropriate branches."
-  private_lane :edit_podfile do |options|
-    require 'net/http'
-
-    branch_pattern = options[:branch_pattern]
-    sdk_slug = "matrix-org/matrix-ios-sdk"
-
-    default_branch = options[:default_branch] || 'develop'    
-    sdk_branch = find_branch(sdk_slug, branch_pattern) || default_branch
-    
-    sdk_spec = { git: 'https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-ios-sdk.git', branch: sdk_branch }    
-
-    UI.message "✏️ Modify Podfile to point `MatrixSDK/*` to \`#{sdk_branch}\` branch..."
-    podfile_content = File.read('../Podfile') # current dir is 'fastlane/' hence the '../'
-    podfile_content.gsub!(%r{^\$matrixSDKVersion\s*=\s*.*$}, "$matrixSDKVersion = { :specHash => #{sdk_spec} }")
-    File.write('../Podfile', podfile_content)
-    UI.command_output("Content of modified Podfile:\n" + podfile_content)
-  end
-
   desc "Upload dsym files to Sentry to symbolicate crashes"
   private_lane :upload_dsyms_to_sentry do
     UI.user_error!("'SENTRY_AUTH_TOKEN' environment variable should be set to use this lane") unless !ENV["SENTRY_AUTH_TOKEN"].to_s.empty?
diff --git a/matrix-ios-sdk b/matrix-ios-sdk
new file mode 160000
index 0000000000..f03778fddb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/matrix-ios-sdk
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Subproject commit f03778fddbaf682173706649ee1412b0143f0449