What you need to know
- Samsung announced a “Digital Home Key” feature for its Wallet app, giving users the option to unlock their smart home locks with their phone.
- Equipping a “compatible” smart lock on your home lets users choose between UWB or NFC connectivity to unlock their home, as Samsung partners with Aliro.
- Samsung Wallet’s recent updates have been more focused on payments, such as Tap to Transfer and split in-store payments.
Samsung’s getting its week started with a smart home announcement that focuses on getting users into their secure homes.
Earlier this morning (Mar 2), Samsung announced the arrival of its “Digital Home Key” within the Wallet app. The company states this feature aims to provide users with a “secure and convenient way for users to unlock the door.” Details state Samsung has partnered with Aliro, a CSA (Connectivity Standards Alliance) industry-standardized communication protocol.
This partnership is said to bring interoperability between digital keys and smart locks. Regarding Samsung’s Digital Home Key, if consumers have purchased and set up a “compatible” smart door lock through SmartThings, they can add a Digital Home Key through the onboarding process in Wallet. What’s more, once everything is set up, users will have the choice to leverage UWB or NFC, depending on what the smart lock you’ve purchased supports.
NFC will require you to tap your phone on your lock, while UWB simply requires you to be in proximity. While Aliro is a protocol developed by the CSA, Samsung has its own security protocols in place for the Digital Home Key. The post states users will be secured via Samsung Knox, and your home key is stored “securely” on your device. Biometric or PIN security choices are present in the Wallet app to ensure users always have control over their home keys.
Samsung confirms that the Digital Home Key will begin rolling out to users this month (March). It also plans an expansion that aims to line up with compatible smart lock brands.
Digital Wallet helps the home, too
It’s different, for sure, to see Samsung Wallet dipping into the smart home ecosystem like this, as the past two updates were all about payments. Last summer, Samsung finally started rolling out a way for users to split in-store payments during checkout. The feature was paired with consumers’ Visa and Mastercards with no credit check or new financing required. When checking out, users would see a “Pay in installments” option beside their eligible card.
It brought peace of mind to users looking to make larger purchases, as they could do so in a more ideal way.
The other update brought Tap to Transfer to U.S. Galaxy users. This enables direct P2P payments from debit cards in Wallet to the recipients’ bank accounts.
Android Central’s Take
Any smart home expansion—take Samsung’s Digital Home Key, for example—is nothing but QoL in my eyes. To quickly save a digital key to my phone and then tap it against my smart home lock sounds like a match made in heaven. Obviously, this requires testing to see how it works and feels in practice, but on paper, I like what was presented. There’s a bit of reassurance here, having the CSA’s protocol as the backbone, too. It might help consumers make their decision that much faster, and with confidence, too.
