Most door locks rely on the centuries-old concept of a specially shaped metal rod that can unlock the respective lock (and only this one). The proven concept is robust and established, but has one major disadvantage: If someone has a key that shouldn’t, the property manager has to change the lock – and provide all authorized users with a new key. On top of that, most keys are increasingly easy to recreate. Smart locks rely on digital keys, which can be granted as quickly as they can be withdrawn. The Connectivity Standards Alliance has now presented the first version of an industry standard: Aliro defines a platform that brings together all important smartphone operating systems and lock manufacturers. Aliro defines three forms of wireless communication between lock and smartphone: Near Field Communication (NFC) for unlocking by touch and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) for wireless unlocking from the smartphone display. A combination of BLE and ultra-wideband (UWB) is used for “a seamless, secure hands-free authentication method”. Asymmetric encryption is used for the data exchange required for unlocking to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks.
Key in wallet
The respective keys end up in the wallet app of the respective operating system. This app has existed in iOS since iOS 6 (initially under the name “Passbook”). It serves as a secure storage location for vouchers, customer and payment cards, flight tickets, ID cards, driving licenses – and digital keys, for example for vehicles. Both Google and Samsung integrate a similarly designed wallet app into their operating system and are also part of the CSA consortium that developed the Aliro standard. Many lock manufacturers also worked on the development of the platform, such as Nuki and Aqara.
Implementation will take time
As is usual with standards, it will take some time for Aliro to be used in systems and products. As an industrial alliance, CSA also takes on the role of the certification authority, which checks whether hardware and software meet the standard. It remains to be seen when Apple will support Aliro and on which hardware. History shows that it usually takes some time for Apple to implement a CSA standard. Apple has so far implemented the new versions of the Matter home automation standard (also a CSA product), which are introduced every six months, late and fragmentarily – the vacuum robot support defined at the end of 2023 with Matter 1.2 only came into use from spring 2025 with iOS 18.4.
