Nest Weave, the communications protocol that Nest uses to make its connected home devices talk to each other, definitely isn’t new. But as of today, Nest is making it part of its Works with Nest program so that third-party hardware makers and developers can use the protocol in their own products…

Before now, developers could use Nest’s cloud API to connect to Nest products, which — while it’s easy implement — is more restricted because it requires that devices have a Wi-Fi connection. Weave is going to take more investment and time to build into products, and it works with products that might not have or need Wi-Fi.

And Nest says that developers can pick and choose which parts of Works with Nest they want to take advantage of. “Whether you want to make an app, hardware product or both, you can pick and choose whatever you need: an operating system, communication protocol, cloud services, user accounts, security and more,” the company said in its blog post.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=1&v=f3JzZsE8Xas]

Also, Nest says that Yale, a maker of door locks, is taking advantage of the newly-available protocol. Using Nest Weave, and Nest’s cloud services and app, they built the Linus lock that lets you check status of the door being open or closed, see who has walked through the door, and create special passcodes for guests from the Nest app.

Chek out the Linus lock below:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU-vKAiPwgg]

Apple’s own smart home platform HomeKit saw the first products to support it launch earlier this year with more on the way.