Your Galaxy phone can now unlock doors using Samsung Wallet

Samsung Wallet already handles payment cards, IDs, boarding passes, car keys, and more. Now, it’s adding support for digital home keys compatible with select smart door locks.

Samsung announced today that Wallet will soon have a Digital Home Key feature for smart door locks. With this update, compatible Galaxy devices can unlock certain smart locks using NFC or UWB. You can tap your phone to the lock, or if your device supports UWB, just walk up and unlock it hands-free.

If you lose your phone, Samsung says you can turn off the key remotely using its Find service. Your information is protected by Samsung Knox and the device’s secure element, so your credentials stay safe.

The Digital Home Key feature is built on Aliro 1.0, a new unified access control standard from the Connectivity Standards Alliance. This is the same group that created Matter.

If you’ve used smart locks before, you know the issues. Different brands use their own protocols. Some only work with certain phones. Others need special apps or readers. It can get confusing.

Aliro wants to solve these problems. It sets a common way for mobile devices and access readers to talk to each other. The goal is to work across different platforms, so users aren’t stuck with just one brand.

By using Aliro for its Digital Home Key, Samsung is making the feature ready for the future. Rather than creating another closed system, it’s joining a wider ecosystem that lock makers and device manufacturers can use.

Now it’s up to lock manufacturers. The more companies that use Aliro, the sooner we’ll have a world where you can tap or walk up to your door with your phone, and it just works.

Samsung also shared that American Airlines is the first US carrier to offer direct Samsung Wallet boarding pass integration.

You can add your flight passes straight from the American Airlines app and get live updates, gate changes, seat info, terminal details, and push notifications without juggling screenshots or separate apps. You can even link a Galaxy SmartTag to your boarding pass to track your bags along with your trip details in Wallet.

Your ticket’s travel information can also sync automatically with Samsung Calendar to help you stay on schedule. If your device runs One UI 8.0 or later, you’ll also see upcoming travel and ticket details in the Now Brief.