The Aliro smart lock standard for NFC and UWB unlocking will be launched this year

The long-awaited Aliro smart lock standard has finally been launched. The first specification, which unifies NFC-based tap-to-unlock and hands-free unlocking for smart locks, will arrive early this year, according to the Communications Standards Alliance (CSA).

“We are pleased to announce that Aliro, CSA’s unified certification and communications protocol that enables trusted smartphones and wearable devices to act as digital keys with smart locks and readers in your home and where you carry your badge, has passed the final validation stage and will be on the market in the first quarter of 2026,” said Nelson Henry, Aliro Steering Committee Chair. Edge In an email statement.

Announced in 2023, Aliro is an open standard for smart locks and digital keys that provides a standardized way for smart locks to communicate with smartphones and watches, regardless of manufacturer or platform.

Ultimately, that should mean more locks and more phones that will get the same capabilities as Apple’s Home Key feature on the iPhone. This lets you use your iPhone as a digital key to tap to unlock using NFC, just like you would tap to pay. Recently, Apple added a UWB hands-free unlock option that unlocks your door when you approach.

With Aliro, these features can now come to Android phones and other smart home platforms, so if your spouse or housemate uses a Galaxy or Pixel phone, you can open the same smart lock using your own device as a key.

Aliro is an industry-wide collaboration, developed by Apple, Google and Samsung, along with locksmiths and chipmakers, including Allegion, Assa Abloy, Qualcomm and NXP. Several lock manufacturers have announced that they plan to support Aliro, including Schlage, Kwikset, X-Things/U-Tec, Level, and Nuki.

Aliro certified locks will use one or more communication options to open a compatible door:

According to the CSA, Aliro’s advantage over similar solutions is that it provides a direct and secure connection between the phone or wearable and the lock. There’s no need to open an app, and there’s no cloud; Credentials are stored on the user’s device, and the communication between the device and the lock uses asymmetric encryption. Since it doesn’t use the cloud, it will work when your phone is offline or has no service, like a regular switch.

Henry says CSA has made significant progress over the past two years, building the Aliro 1.0 specification, its certification program, and supporting the testing system. This should set it up for quick and widespread adoption, and we could start to see smart locks with Aliro support arriving soon.