The Google, Inc. owned Nest smart connected thermostats are no longer available through the Appe, Inc. owned Apple stores, after the latter withdrew them from sale as the first devices become available that work with Apple’s HomeKit.

According to reports, although the thermostat was only recently discovered as missing from Apple’s product offerings, it was removed earlier this month.

Apple instead has replaced Nest’s thermostat with the ecobee3, a competing smart thermostat from Nest rival ecobee, Inc.  which is compatible with Apple’s protocol for connecting smart home devices in iOS, HomeKit.

Among other things, the ecobee3 also works with the Apple Watch, potentially providing more cross-promotion opportunities for the Cupertino-based tech giant.

Unlikely to return

Apple has been long prone to chopping and changing its retail lineup in its chain of highly successful Apple stores, so one product disappearing from the mix isn’t exactly huge news, even if that product is arguably the best known brand in the smart home space.

But there is a little bit more to it than a lineup refresh: we could potentially be seeing shots fired in a war to see who controls the universal standard around smart home devices.

Google launched it own competing standard, Brillo, to HomeKit back in May, an operating system for the Internet of Things (IotT) that offers all the same bells and whistles as HomeKit does, but naturally working with Android devices.

Surprisingly Nest has yet to announce support for either Brillo or HomeKit (the former coming as a big surprise when Brillo was launched) but if you were taking bets on which platform Nest will support first, the smart money is definitely going to be on Brillo, given Google owns Nest.

For Apple, it’s simply a matter of filling its store with devices that support, and work within, its own ecosystem; it’s somewhat sad for smart home lovers that they’ve dumped Nest given the company has been a long term supporter of the product (Nest first went on sale in Apple stores in 2012,) but the reality is, that’s business, and Apple is a big business that does what’s right for Apple.

Along with the ecobee3 expect to see more HomeKit enabled devices being made available in your local Apple store in the year ahead.

Image credit: mattbuchanan/Flickr/CC by 2.0