Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.
ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Copilot.cx is an IoT customer experience SaaS company that just introduced Copilot Star.
- Star is a framework that unifies different smart home platforms for users.
- The system is designed for smart home manufacturers to use as a universal app framework.
Matter, the smart home connectivity protocol that revolutionized the IoT world, has done wonders to bridge the interoperability gaps between brands. For various reasons, however, Matter hasn’t completely solved the problem of incompatibility in the smart home. IoT company Copilot.cx aims to change that by giving users access to different brands’ devices with a single mobile app.
Copilot.cx has introduced Copilot Star, a platform that enables manufacturers to build a branded app based on a single framework, connecting smart home devices running on different platforms.
Also: CES 2026: 7 biggest news stories across TVs, laptops, and other weird gadgets you missed
I watched a demo of Copilot Star at CES 2026 in Las Vegas, and the solution appears promising. If you have a smart home, you probably know how annoying it can be to have cameras, smart lights, and thermostats from three different brands. If they don’t all support Matter, this means dealing with multiple apps and messy integrations. Think of Copilot Star as the way to bring them all together with a single app.
Manufacturers can build their applications with Copilot Star to develop apps to control their devices. In turn, users can access each brand’s platform with a single Copilot Star app when they add new devices, eliminating the need for multiple apps for different brands.
For example, if a brand sells Matter-certified smart lights, non-Matter cameras, legacy sensors, and a thermostat that uses a different cloud service, Copilot Star could bring all of these products under a single branded app.
Also: The 13 most useful smart home devices I’ve seen at CES 2026 (and would buy if I could)
“Smart-home technology has accelerated, but fragmentation continues to limit growth,” said Zvi Frank, Copilot.cx CEO. “Copilot Star is designed to simplify complexity — making it easier for manufacturers to develop products, easier for retailers to merchandise smart-home categories, and easier for consumers to control connected devices in their homes. Our mission is simple: democratize the smart home.”
Copilot Star aims to consolidate various cloud systems, including Tuya, AWS IoT, and proprietary stacks, into a unified platform for users.
For manufacturers and retailers, utilizing the Copilot framework can result in faster product launches, lower app development costs, and a simpler approach to combining and matching hardware supplies, according to Copilot.cx. The framework can also offer businesses more control over the customer relationship, since the user will access the brand’s app, not anyone else’s.
Copilot.cx is currently seeking partnerships and integrations with its system.
How Copilot Star is different from Matter
While both Copilot Star and Matter aim to address similar interoperability issues, they do so in distinct ways. Matter is a connectivity standard that determines how devices communicate with ecosystems, while Copilot Star is a framework that helps brands build and ship mobile apps across various ecosystems.
Also: Best of CES 2026 Awards: Official List of Winners (CNET)
As a connectivity standard, Matter defines how devices communicate, pair, and how ecosystems recognize and interact with devices. Matter enables a single device to work with Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, and Google Home. Matter doesn’t replace the actual mobile apps that consumers use; Copilot Star can.
