Google Looking to Allow Nest Products to Work in Apple Ecosystem

Google is hopeful that it can one day integrate its Nest products into Apple’s HomeKit ecosystem. This will be a major step in the smart home unification initiative Google seeks to achieve.

In a blog post (which has since been taken down), Google outlined that communications between its smart home devices will open up to Apple’s Siri-controlled smart home platform. As reported by CNET, this initiative will be spearheaded by Google’s adoption of a new connectivity standard dubbed ‘Matter’.

A portion of the blog post read as followed, “Matter will allow interoperability, so you can use your compatible Nest products on other smart home platforms. For instance, the newest Nest Thermostat will be updated allowing it to work with other smart home ecosystems, such as HomeKit.”

The Matter program isn’t just a way for Google and Apple to unify for the betterment of consumers. No, this will extend to all major players in the smart home space. Amazon is a part of the Matter program, which means that its Alexa, Ring, and Blink products can one day soon be integrated into Google’s ecosystem and vice versa. Other major companies involved in Matter include Samsung, Philips Hue, Comcast, and Huawei.

There’s no word on when the Matter program will come into effect. While it’s likely the program’s partners are well into developing measures to ensure unification, it’s likely that we as consumers won’t see the effects come to light until later this year. It may even take until 2022 for the Matter program to truly debut. The Connectivity Standard Alliance, which helped develop the Matter program, has been underway since last year.

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