A quick tweet from a Seattle-based developer today noted that Apple’s just made it a lot easier for developers or hobbyists to work on creating HomeKit-controlled devices. Victor Ilyukevich (@yas375) just tweeted that the “HomeKit protocol spec is now open to all devs! Can build a smart device using Arduino and control it via HomeKit without getting MFi license.”
HomeKit protocol spec is now open to all devs! Can build a smart device using Arduino and control it via HomeKit without getting MFI license
— Victor Ilyukevich (@yas375) June 7, 2017
In follow-up responses, Ilyukevich pointed out the location of the documentation, which is for “non-commercial use” only. This really opens up HomeKit to experimenters or those who are considering creating a HomeKit product but want to test it fully prior to going commercial.
The spec is a 256-page PDF that covers just about every type of sensor or product you’d ever want to make.