Apple has released an open-source version of the HomeKit Accessory Development Kit. You can now fork it on Github and play around with it to integrate smart home devices in the Home app and beyond.
Today’s news is related to the Connected Home over IP effort, an industry-wide effort to build an open-source standard for the internet of things. Essentially, Apple, Amazon, Google, the Zigbee Alliance and smart home manufacturers want to work together so that accessories work everywhere.
HomeKit is lagging behind. While Apple arrived early in the connected home space. A ton of accessories now work with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, but you can control very few accessories with Siri as HomeKit adoption has been slow.
By open-sourcing HomeKit, Apple hopes that more smart home manufacturers will try to integrate HomeKit in their prototypes. Everything has been released under the Apache 2.0 license.
As Next INpact noticed, if you want to release a HomeKit-compatible accessory, you still have to work with Apple to get a certification. And of course, manufacturers that work with Apple directly could potentially access unreleased features before they’re unveiled at WWDC.
Developers have already reverse-engineered HomeKit to add HomeKit compatibility to more devices with the Homebridge project. Now let’s see if it leads to more cool projects to make it easier to control your connected objects from your iPhone, iPad and other Apple devices.