Hello,
we are developing our family of smart home products, and we would like them to be compliant also with Apple Home Kit.
Is it true that any device that will be sold must include Apple's Auth Co-processor? I heard rumours that soon this constraint could be removed
Thank you
Paolo from the iotty team
If you're talking about the move from hardware to software authentication, I believe the change was reflected in the availability of both commercial and non-commercial HAP. An MFi requirement still stands for commercial, I believe, which requires hardware/chip.
Quoting myself from a previous thread:
Making your own hardware involves Apple's Homekit Accessory Protocal.
HAP, intended to help an accessory communicate with Apple's HomeKit, has two faces - commercial and non-commercial.
- In the case of commercial use, a manufacturer would have their own implementation w/their own (MFi licensed) products.
- In the case of non-commercial, an individual would use that version HAP with their DIY accessory/hardware, not intended for commercial distribution.
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Note further hardware questions may be better put to theHomeKit (Accessories) forum.
For comercial HomeKit solutions your company will need to register as a Hardware Developer with the MFi Program. (Free membership) The MFi Program is Apple’s Hardware Development Program, they help HW Developers integrate Apple technology. (CarPlay, AirPlay, HomeKit...) Any non Apple Product that integrates Apple technology will need to authenticate itself with an iOS device in order to ensure seemless and secure communication. MFi Hardware developers have two options for Authentication, when integrating HomeKit. This can be done through HW or SW. HW authentication means your product will need to embed an MFi Chip on its PCB and SW Authentication means you can use a software based solution (provided by Apple) the option is yours to choose. Neither of them is costly it all depends of what suits you best. All info, tech specs and support is available through the MFi Program