Google, Apple, Amazon Work Together To Improve Your Smart Home Devices

On Wednesday, Apple, Google, Amazon, along with the Zigbee Alliance said that they are creating a working group for the development and promotion of a new smart home product standard. This group will work towards the goal of “Connected Home over IP,” which means to simplify development while increasing compatibility.

They will build the new standard for smart home products based on Internet Protocol (IP). Google said in a blog post that IP will allow for secure, private, and end-to-end communication among cloud services, mobile apps, and smart devices. The group said that the new protocol will be built with security as the core principle.

The website for this project reads:

What the tech giants want is the easiest connection possible between third-party smart devices with their own platforms including Google Assistant, Apple HomeKit, and Alexa. Each of them can benefit from such an open-source industry group.

For example, Amazon introduced “Frustration-Free Setup” in 2018, the software created for device makers to make sure their gadgets sync with its voice assistant automatically when they are plugged in the first time. Meanwhile, Apple can expand its HomeKit support to more devices.

Regarding Google, the search giant earlier this year was criticized for how it transitioned users along with their devices from the old Works using Nest open software to the new one using Google Assistant. This was a change that couldn’t be reversed, affecting certain integrations with third-party devices. So the new standard will help Google ensure stability for its users.

However, this is not the first attempt in the industry to put smart home protocols and standards in order. Over the past few years, big players like Google, Apple, and Amazon have been spending effort to build cohesive ecosystems of smart home devices for consumers.

For now, we can’t tell if the group will come up with something practical enough but you’ve got the idea of this.

The project’s website reads: