Apple’s Smart Home Plan Said to Consist of ‘Made for iPhone’ Certification

What are Apple’s plans for your home? According to Gigaom, Apple is set to announce a new ‘Made for iPhone’ certification for new smart home devices, essentially a similar play to the MFi label iOS accessories receive:

Apple’s move into the smart home isn’t actually the grand experience I had hoped for. Instead, it is a much simpler program that will basically certify a bunch of connected devices on the market or set to be launched as products that are certified under the Made for iPhone label.

My sources, who spoke only on background because of their involvement or knowledge of the program, explain that the smart home effort will have a heavy focus on connecting devices easily via Wi-Fi and will likely offer voice control via Bluetooth as well. However, it won’t have some sort of software-based automation layer controlled by Apple that supersedes the original apps.

Sources say expectations for announcements next week at possibly WWDC will include a roll out of partners, devices and chips to support the new MFi label, to reassure customers new products will officially work properly with iOS devices.

Earlier this week, the Financial Times reported Apple was set to launch a new software platform at WWDC to allow iPhone owners to turn their device into a remote control for the home.