The Connectivity Standards Alliance, of which Apple is a member, has launched two certification programs: the FastTrack Recertification Program and the Portfolio Certification Program.
These programs accelerate the certification process and leverage the Alliance’s Interoperability Testing Facility (“Interop Lab”), a new Member benefit, as a critical resource. Members can now achieve faster deployment times for software updates due to the new streamlined application process and reduced costs, all while maintaining the highest standards of performance and interoperability. Here’s how the Alliance describes the new certification programs:
- FastTrack Recertification Program – As with any new standard and its implementation, the first few generations often quickly uncover the opportunity for improvements in reliability, resiliency, scalability, features, and even simple bug fixes. With Matter, many products receive regular software updates to take advantage of these advancements. The Matter Working Group listened to the feedback from product makers, highlighting the cost and complexity of recertification and the challenges it posed in delivering updates efficiently and with low costs. As a result, the FastTrack Recertification Program was introduced by the Matter Working Group in November 2024. This new recertification program simplifies the process, significantly reducing costs and administrative overhead for product makers. It ensures product makers can more easily release critical updates to enhance their products and utilize the Interop Lab as a “light touch” check using the Lab’s capabilities to check that updates do not unintentionally degrade in functionality or performance when used with other popular devices and systems. The program allows Members to quickly deploy bug and security fixes, enabling quicker response times to emerging issues. Alliance recertification follows shortly thereafter to maintain certification integrity. Trained and qualified members can self-test using the Alliance-approved test suite.
- Portfolio Certification Program – In addition to launching the FastTrack Recertification Program, the Alliance also recently announced the Portfolio Certification Program. This certification program, which applies to both Zigbee and Matter products, simplifies the certification process by allowing manufacturers to certify multiple Portfolio Member Products within a single application, using a Parent Product as the basis. Designed to accelerate time-to-market and minimize costs for both the Alliance and its Members, this program offers greater flexibility compared to the existing Certification by Similarity and Product Family Certification Programs. Over time, it may potentially supersede these programs, making it a highly efficient option for manufacturers seeking certification.
- End-to-End Certification and Testing – A key part of many Matter device makers’ go-to-market journey is earning major smart home ecosystems’ “Works With” certification and badges. These programs often require device makers to complete the Alliance’s certification process, and then participate in an entirely separate testing process for each “Works With” ecosystem. Recognizing the need for a more streamlined end-to-end certification process, the Alliance is excited to share that Apple has begun accepting Alliance Interop Lab test results for Matter devices for Works With programs. Device makers are encouraged to contact their platform partners for additional details on their programs.
Article provided with permission from AppleWorld.Today