Aliro opens smart locks with smartphones from Apple, Google, and Samsung

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Smart home standards are intended to open doors between manufacturer systems. With Aliro, this is even literally the job description. The protocol, now released in version 1.0, standardizes the transfer of access data and radio transmission between smart door locks and their readers on the one hand, and smartphones and smartwatches on the other. The three major providers of wallet apps – Apple, Google, and Samsung – contribute the containers for digital keys. Among the smart lock providers participating in the standard are industry giants such as Nuki, Assa Abloy (Yale), Aqara, and Anker (Eufy). Development teams now have access to the final specifications of Aliro. Market-ready hardware and software are expected soon.

Manage digital keys with the wallet of your choice

Aliro is intended to make it easier to combine smart locks with digital keys from a provider of your choice. This should simplify not only access management to doors of private apartments and houses, but also for offices, hotels, universities, or event venues. Previously, to open networked door locks in private rooms, one was often dependent on the respective manufacturer's app, including a registered account. In commercial buildings, physical tokens are common. Neither is ideal for sporadic visits.

A central digital key management system sounds particularly promising if you regularly open multiple locks from different manufacturers. Digital keys for wallet apps do not need to be physically distributed and retrieved. The fact that several of them can be centrally located in one place makes them convenient to use.

However, previous central solutions tie customers to the hardware and software of a single provider just one level higher. This is the case with Apple HomeKey, for example. This is a system where you open compatible door locks with the NFC function of iPhones and Apple Watches by holding the mobile device to a reading surface belonging to the lock. Often, this is located in an operating unit with a numeric keypad on the wall next to it. The corresponding access code is stored in Apple's Wallet app with HomeKey.

In comparison, Aliro increases the number of access options. In addition to Apple's Wallet app, the standard also provides for Google's and Samsung's as storage locations for access data. This makes a very large number of smartphone and smartwatch models suitable as key carriers.

What technology Aliro needs

For the transport of access data, Aliro combines several radio technologies. NFC (Near Field Communication) is used for so-called Tap-to-Access, i.e., contact of a mobile device with the reading surface, as with Apple HomeKey. Bluetooth Low Energy allows remote unlocking from a slightly greater distance. Ultrawideband (UWB) facilitates more precise location of the devices involved, so that the lock and smartphone can verify whether you are actually standing directly in front of the door or not. UWB is by no means available on all mobile devices and must therefore be considered an additional option.

The certification organization Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), which also forms the umbrella for the Matter standard, is responsible for the standard. As a "smart home universal language," it solves communication problems between manufacturers of various device categories, including smart locks. While Matter can also lock and unlock them, it also handles other tasks, such as checking the operating status, i.e., whether a door is closed, or time-controlled locking mechanisms. Furthermore, Matter is IP-based, requires WLAN, Thread, and control centers connected to the home network. Bluetooth, NFC, or Tap-to-Access, on the other hand, play no role in Matter.

Aliro closes this gap. The standard also requires a much leaner infrastructure. The smartphone and the smart lock or its reader communicate directly. However, it is not impossible that manufacturers will integrate Aliro-compatible smart locks into the home network via Matter control centers.

Will Aliro deliver faster than Matter?

The Matter standard, launched in 2022, could not meet the expectations raised at the time as quickly as hoped and is still in ramp-up. Aliro is expected to deliver convincing results faster, the CSA is optimistic. After all, the specifications for the smart lock standard are much thinner than for the extensive Matter protocol. In addition, companies interested in Aliro could draw on the years of mature certification processes for Matter from the outset. These initially caused trouble because many tests often had to be repeated cyclically.

In an interview with Heise Online, Nelson Henry, head of the Aliro working group at the CSA, emphasized that the launch of the first Aliro-compatible products is imminent. It is only a matter of timing and opportunity for the respective companies to present their solutions.

One of the first Aliro products could come from Nuki. At IFA 2025, the smart lock manufacturer demonstrated how a Samsung smartphone with a Samsung wallet could be used to connect to a new, NFC-enabled keypad from Nuki, thereby unlocking an existing smart lock from Nuki. A gateway from Samsung served as the smart home control center.

Manufacturers will likely only retrofit Aliro once the wallets are also ready for use. This is still in progress. A Google spokesperson explains when asked by heise online: "We are actively working with OEM partners to implement Aliro in Google Wallet in the coming months." Technically, there are unlikely to be major hurdles. "Aliro requires little infrastructure. Even simple smartphones have NFC. The technology is no reason not to be part of Aliro," says Nelson Henry from the CSA.

(afl)