Product Planning

Before you start ACK development, determine whether Alexa Connect Kit (ACK) is the correct service for your needs and decide on a high level product plan, including what type of product you want to create and which ACK solution option is right for you.

To learn about the benefits and features that ACK offers, see What's the Alexa Connect Kit. To learn more about the ACK solution, see How the Alexa Connect Kit works.

Decide on a high-level product plan

You can't build your device until you decide on a high-level product plan. As a product owner, you might fall under one of the following device manufacturer categories:

  • You're new to smart home product development. You've built products, but they don't have any smart home features.
  • You're familiar with Alexa and familiar with smart home development. You've built smart home devices with different Alexa services, such as the Alexa Skills Kit (ASK).
  • You aren't familiar with Alexa services, but are familiar with smart home development.
    • You've worked with other smart home vendors.
    • You've built Works with Alexa (WWA) products, but they connect to Alexa though alternative solution providers other than ACK.

For example, you might manufacturer and sell a popular fan, but it doesn't have any smart home features. Using this example, your high-level product plan could be a simple smart fan. You design the fan to use smart home capabilities to power it on and off and cycle through a range of different settings. As your first smart home product, ACK helps you speed up development by providing Alexa control without building an Alexa skill or an app. You also might want to include some additional features, such as collecting metrics, to understand how customers use your device on a daily basis.

When you decide on a high-level product design, you determine whether ACK is the appropriate Alexa service to use for your device. For example, if you have your own device cloud, you should build a smart home skill. For other options, see Alexa-Enabled Smart Home Development Options.

Choose the ACK solution

ACK offers three development options for device integration:

  • ACK SDK for Matter – This solution integrates Matter command and control into your device. You build your own connectivity hardware, implement your Alexa-connected device application with the ACK SDK for Matter, and sell the reference solution to a device maker. With the ACK SDK for Matter, you don't have to have expertise in the Matter protocol. Matter command and control is built into the solution. You can connect your device to Alexa or any Matter-enabled smart assistant. ACK SDK for Matter targets original design manufacturers (ODMs) and solution providers (SPs).
  • ACK SDK – This solution integrates Alexa command and control into your device. You build your own connectivity hardware, implement your Alexa-connected solution with the ACK SDK, and sell the reference solution to a device maker. The ACK SDK solution targets ODMs and SPs.
  • ACK module – With this solution, you purchase an ACK module from an approved partner and a host microcontroller unit (HMCU) that satisfies ACK minimum requirements. Then, you develop your application logic with the ACK Device SDK. The ACK module solution targets device makers and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs).

Next steps

After you choose the ACK solution, start the development process for the selected ACK solution. For next steps, see one of the following references:

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Last updated: Jul 01, 2024