Smart home product vendors should find it easier to get Apple’s “Works with Apple Home” badge in the future, thanks to a new certification program from Connectivity Standards Alliance’s (CSA) certification program. The new program will assume HomeKit support is present if devices pass Matter tests.
Matter makes it possible for smart home accessories from multiple smart home ecosystems to work together, including devices compatible with Apple’s HomeKit, Samsung’s SmartThings, and Google’s Home.
The CSA’s new program is designed to make getting interoperability certifications easier for device makers, while making it easier to understand for consumers.
The CSA on Monday announced it has launched two certification programs, leveraging the CSA’s Interoperability Testing Facility, or Interop Lab. The programs are designed to streamline the certification application process, reduce software update costs, and maintain performance and interoperability standards.
Previously, the process had required products to not only go through CSA certification, but also through a separate testing process for each ecosystem, to obtain certification.
CSA’s announcement says Apple will now accept Interop Lab test results for Matter devices, allowing them to be classified as “Works With Apple Home” as long as the device passes Matter testing.
It is expected that Google and Samsung will also make a similar procedure change sometime during 2025 for their Google Home and SmartThings certifications, respectively.
Consumers should start seeing more smart home products with “Works with Apple Home” certification badge on the products’ marketing and box art on store shelves.
The FastTrack Recertification Program
The CSA’s two new certification programs should make it easier for manufacturers to gain certification. The FastTrack Recertification Program is designed to reduce both the cost and complexity of recertification.
FastTrack Recertification Program – As with any new standard and its implementation, the first few generations often quickly uncover the opportunity for improvements in reliability, resiliency, scalability, features, and even simple bug fixes. With Matter, many products receive regular software updates to take advantage of these advancements. The Matter Working Group listened to the feedback from product makers, highlighting the cost and complexity of recertification and the challenges it posed in delivering updates efficiently and with low costs. As a result, the FastTrack Recertification Program was introduced by the Matter Working Group in November 2024. This new recertification program simplifies the process, significantly reducing costs and administrative overhead for product makers. It ensures product makers can more easily release critical updates to enhance their products and utilize the Interop Lab as a “light touch” check using the Lab’s capabilities to check that updates do not unintentionally degrade in functionality or performance when used with other popular devices and systems. The program allows Members to quickly deploy bug and security fixes, enabling quicker response times to emerging issues. Alliance recertification follows shortly thereafter to maintain certification integrity. Trained and qualified members can self-test using the Alliance-approved test suite. Learn more about the benefits and training requirements of the FastTrack Recertification Program for Matter.
The Portfolio Certification Program
The second new program, the Portfolio Certification Program, applies to Zigbee and Matter products, making it possible for manufacturers to certify multiple portfolio products within a single application, using a Parent Product as the basis.
Portfolio Certification Program – In addition to launching the FastTrack Recertification Program, the Alliance also recently announced the Portfolio Certification Program. This certification program, which applies to both Zigbee and Matter products, simplifies the certification process by allowing manufacturers to certify multiple Portfolio Member Products within a single application, using a Parent Product as the basis. Designed to accelerate time-to-market and minimize costs for both the Alliance and its Members, this program offers greater flexibility compared to the existing Certification by Similarity and Product Family Certification Programs. Over time, it may potentially supersede these programs, making it a highly efficient option for manufacturers seeking certification.
