Early last year, Samsung joined hands with several other home appliance makers to bring interoperability among their smart home platforms. This interoperability alliance is called HCA (Home Connectivity Alliance), and LG joined the union earlier this year. Today, Samsung, LG, and Vestel have announced that they will soon allow users to control their home appliances from each other's apps.
Smart home appliances and TVs from LG, Samsung, and Vestel can be controlled using an app from any of these brands
Based on HCA's Interface Specifications 1.0, smart home platforms from LG, Samsung, and Vestel now have Cloud-to-Cloud (C2C) interoperability. It means these brands have made their smart home products compatible with each other's apps. Appliances from these firms could soon be controlled using SmartThings, ThinQ, and Vestel VeeZy apps. This move will reduce confusion among consumers and offer them a choice to use any app for all their smart home needs. Samsung claims that using one app would allow users to monitor the energy consumption of all smart home products and improve energy efficiency. This interoperability will be available in Q4 2023 in eight countries: France, Germany, Italy, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, the UK, and the US.
HCA's interoperability will first come to ACs, refrigerators, TVs, and washing machines. This is the first step towards simplifying smart home platforms. Samsung announced that HCA's Interface Specification 2.0 will be released in 2024, and it will bring additional energy management functions and include other product types, including EV (Electric Vehicle) chargers. Matter, a similar standard that allows users to control smart home products from any app, was released late last year. Amazon, Apple, Google, Samsung, LG, and other brands already support it.
HCA is currently an alliance of 15 brands, including AEG, American Standard, Arcelik, Electrolux, Frigidaire, GE Appliances, Grundig, Haier, Leader, LG, Resideo, Samsung Electronics, Trane, and Vestel. More brands are expected to join HCA in the future.
Chanwoo Park, Executive Vice President and Head of Samsung DX, said, “It is great to see HCA bring its first example of interoperability to market with global leaders in the appliance, HVAC, and TV industries. It is a testament to the commitment of large device manufacturers to better serve our consumers in their homes. By enabling consumers to control multiple brands of appliances and HVAC products through apps such as SmartThings, we expect the smart home market to achieve new levels of scale. Global leaders will be able to fuel enhanced digital services that provide consumers with new benefits, and Samsung is steadfast in its commitment to HCA and its vision.“
