The Connectivity Standards Alliance announces that Apple, Google, and Samsung will accept its Matter certification for their “Works With” smart home programs
Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge :
Context & Ripple Effects
Matter began as the Connectivity Standards Alliance’s interoperable smart-home effort and reached a formal Matter 1.0 certification program in 2022. Its scope has since widened through Matter 1.3’s support for more appliances and resource-management features.
The new recognition connects the alliance’s certification layer to three major platform “Works With” programs. It matters because certification can become a shared route to platform compatibility rather than a separate validation process for each ecosystem.
First-order effects
- Device makers with Matter certification gain an accepted basis for participation in Apple, Google, and Samsung “Works With” programs, reducing the importance of duplicative program-specific certification paths.
- Apple, Google, and Samsung formally tie part of their compatibility signaling to the Connectivity Standards Alliance’s certification process.
Second-order effects
- Accessory brands have a stronger incentive to prioritize Matter certification when planning products intended to span the three platforms.
- The alliance gains more influence over how smart-home compatibility is verified, while platform programs can concentrate their own requirements on areas beyond baseline interoperability.
Third-order effects
- If other platform programs follow, certification could become a common market-access layer in smart homes, shifting competitive differentiation toward software experience, device quality, and ecosystem services.
- That outcome depends on continued expansion of Matter-supported device categories and on platforms maintaining acceptance of the alliance’s certification rather than adding divergent requirements.
The trend: Smart-home platforms are moving from bilateral compatibility arrangements toward shared interoperability standards that make cross-ecosystem access easier to certify.