Apple, Amazon, Google, and Zigbee Alliance Standard for Smart Home Technology on Track for 2021 Release

Last year, Apple, Amazon, Google, and the Zigbee Alliance, which includes Ikea, Samsung, and Philips, announced a new working group known as "Project Connected Home over IP" that set about developing an IP-based open-source connectivity standard for smart home products, with a focus on increased compatibility, security, and simplified development for manufacturers. The group has today announced a major update on the project, stating that development is ongoing, and that work is on track for a 2021 release.

Project Connected Home over IP Stack

The update reveals the first concrete information about how the open-source smart home standard will work. A large number of devices will be supported by the protocol, including "lighting and electrical (e.g., light bulbs, luminaires, controls, plugs, outlets), HVAC controls (e.g., thermostats, AC units), access control (e.g., door locks, garage doors), safety and security (e.g., sensors, detectors, security systems), window coverings/shades, TVs, access points, bridges and others," as well as additional "consumer electronics products."

The announcement also reveals that the group has grown significantly, now with 145 active member companies. Between these companies there are hundreds of product, engineering, and marketing experts, working across 30 cross-functional teams to deliver the new standard.

The group recently launched an open-source repository on GitHub, where it is "rapidly iterating on the global open standard, based on market-proven technologies." By sharing the repository, the group hopes to bring the benefits of the project to consumers and manufacturers as quickly as possible.

The project will likely make it easier for device manufacturers to build devices that are compatible with smart home and voice services such as Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant, and others by defining a specific set of IP-based networking technologies for device certification. The new standard will also incorporate existing smart home technologies, such as Apple's HomeKit and Google's Weave and Thread.

By the end of 2020, the group aims to provide a "draft specification," and release the completed standard next year. For consumers, this should ultimately lead to improved smart home accessories with better connectivity, multi-platform support, and easier setup.

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Top Rated Comments

TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
61 months ago
As long PRIVACY is the TOP priority. Then, this should be GREAT.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Squuiid Avatar
61 months ago
It better be backwards compatible ?
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BF1M Avatar
61 months ago
Hey, if it makes HomeKit not suck I'm all for it.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Lounge vibes 05 Avatar
61 months ago
I sure hope this works as advertised. But to be honest, I wish they would all just collaborate on one open source platform that you can connect to multiple different devices. We already have an Alexa, and I really want to get a HomePod. But whats holding me back is, our smart devices won’t work with both at the same time.
Also, things like Ring refuse to support HomeKit.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fonzy91 Avatar
61 months ago
This is really exciting, no more having to choose if your home is HomeKit, Google or Alexa. Hopefully this means most device will just work with all of them, and Apple being in the alliance makes me feel good about privacy.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DeepIn2U Avatar
61 months ago

As long PRIVACY is the TOP priority. Then, this should be GREAT.
Not just privacy ... free from rogue code that is sampled from what we've seen in the last two weeks of code on GitHub. Not sure it's wise yet to be going this route without word of rogue code being fixed yet.


Hey, if it makes HomeKit not suck I'm all for it.
More importantly what will occur to ALL our HomeKit purchased devices already in use with HomeKit apps right now?
Will they ALL be compatible feature for feature?
Will this be a delta update (in app or ?) or will this be part of an iOS and Android update?
Will we need to update all HomeKit hubs and components?
iPad or HomePod as Hubs in HomeKit how will THEY be affected?!

Some BIG questions need to be answered and planned FAST before 2021 else a LOT of products may not sell due to the HUGE unknown.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)