By Julie Clover
The Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), which includes Apple, today introduced Aliro, a new standard aimed at improving how smart door locks work with smartphones and wearable devices.
Members of the Alliance are working to develop a new communication protocol that will ensure compatibility between mobile devices, wearable devices and access control readers. As with Matter, the idea is to have smart locks compatible with any smartphone or wearable device, without the need for an app.
According to the CSA, the goal of the Aliro protocol is to “promote widespread adoption of consumer electronic devices for unlocking doors and openings” by creating a consistent experience for all certified hardware devices.
“As we saw with the advent of Matter, it has proven that global collaboration around a common mission and Open standards are the best way to achieve greater adoption of new technologies,” explains Connectivity Standards Alliance President and CEO Tobin Richardson. “The Alliance and its members are now using the same model to unlock the potential of digital access, creating a new standard and credentials that simplify adoption for mobile device and access control device companies.”
Aliro will be a common communication protocol and credentials that will make it much easier to obtain a digital key for a smart lock and unlock a door using a wearable device or smartphone. CSA says this will have a “long-lasting impact” on how people access homes, corporate offices, warehouses, hotel rooms, healthcare facilities, universities and more.
Aliro will support a wide range of technology transmissions including NFC, Bluetooth LE and Ultra Wideband, as well as asymmetric cryptography and credentials. It is expected to work the same on all devices, regardless of hardware and operating system.
Apple is a member of Aliro and already has some framework in place to implement this functionality as described by the CSA. The CSA envisions people being able to use smartphones and wearables to unlock their homes instead of using a physical key, something Apple already supports with Home Key. Home Key allows you to add a digital key to the Wallet app to unlock your HomeKit-compatible door via NFC without opening the app.
Apple, Google, Qualcomm, Samsung and other CSA members support Aliro's efforts.
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