Apple, Amazon, and Google are supporting an industry alliance to make it easier for smart home devices from different brands work together (via CNET).
Smarter Home Devices
Formerly called Connected Home Over IP, or CHIP, Matter would unify the network connections used by various smart home devices. It would let products from companies like Apple, Google, and Amazon to work together.
The group behind Matter is the Connectivity Standards Alliance, formerly known as the Zigbee Alliance. CEO Tobin Richardson spoke about the project:
As these different devices become more complex networks, it’s all the more important that they’re all talking the same language. That mark will be a helping hand to make sure that you can add whatever lightbulbs, whatever door locks, whatever you want to add.
Matter is currently an open-source project on GitHub. Smart home devices that will incorporate this protocol will include video doorbells, door locks, lighting, and heating products.