New 'Aliro' Standard Aims to Simplify Unlocking Doors With Smartphones

The Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), which includes Apple as a member, today introduced Aliro, a new standard that is aimed at improving the way that smart door locks work with smartphones and wearables.

aliro smart home
Alliance members are working to develop a new communication protocol that will allow for interoperability between mobile devices, wearables, and access control readers. As with Matter, the idea is to have smart locks that are compatible with any smartphone or wearable device, without the need for an app.

According to the CSA, the goal for the Aliro protocol is to "foster widespread adoption of consumer electronic devices to unlock doors and openings" by creating a consistent experience across certified hardware devices.

"As we've seen with the introduction of Matter, it's been proven that global collaboration around a shared mission along open standards is the best way to achieve broader adoption of new technology," explains Connectivity Standards Alliance President and CEO Tobin Richardson. "The Alliance and its members are now using that same model to unlock the potential of digital access experience, with the creation of a new standard and credential that makes adoption easier for mobile device and access control reader companies."

Aliro would be a common communication protocol and credential that would make it much simpler to get a digital key for a smart lock and unlock a door using a wearable or smartphone. The CSA says that it will have a "lasting impact" on the way that people access homes, corporate offices, warehouses, hotel rooms, healthcare facilities, universities, and more.

Aliro will support a wide range of transmission technologies, including NFC, Bluetooth LE, and Ultra Wideband, along with asymmetric cryptography and credential data. It is meant to work the same way across devices regardless of hardware and operating system.

Apple is an Aliro member, and it already has some of the groundwork for the functionality as it is described by the CSA. The CSA suggests that people will be able to use smartphones and wearables to unlock their homes in place of a physical key, something that Apple supports with Home Key already. Home Key allows a digital key to be added to the Wallet app to unlock a HomeKit-compatible door over NFC without opening an app.

Apple, Google, Qualcomm, Samsung, and other CSA members support the Aliro effort.

Tag: Aliro

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Top Rated Comments

brijazz Avatar
22 months ago
I mean, do I really need to? Fine: https://xkcd.com/927/
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
spaxxedout Avatar
22 months ago
If that’s the best they can do with photoshopping a logo on an iPhone, I don’t want them in charge of my security.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sw1tcher Avatar
22 months ago

Would this be adopted into Matter, or an alternative? If an alternative…what was the point of Matter?
I don't believe so from what I've read. Matter is for smart home devices in general while Aliro is specifically for smart locks/digital keys. The Connectivity Standards Alliance is behind both Matter and Aliro.

Apparently, Aliro means "access" in Esperanto ('https://www.britannica.com/topic/Esperanto')
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macduke Avatar
22 months ago
Oh cool, yet another standard.

I always need to link the relevant xkcd when this happens a few times per year: https://xkcd.com/927/

Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
goonie4life9 Avatar
22 months ago
Don’t worry, we’ll hear from the major manufacturers that, “We will not be supporting Aliro because we want to provide the best, most seamless experience using our dedicated app.”*

*Subscription required for full functionality.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
longofest Avatar
22 months ago

Would this be adopted into Matter, or an alternative? If an alternative…what was the point of Matter?
Matter and Aliro are two different and not related CSA-IOT specifications. Matter relates to connectivity of IOT devices in a smart home, like Zigbee/ZWave is.

Aliro deals with the interaction between a mobile device (as a credential) and a reader/lock. It standardizes that so that you can have one mobile credential created on a watch and a credential on a phone, and it will work on any compliant manufacturer's lock or reader.

Can this be installed into current smart locks via a firmware/software update?
It depends upon their hardware and their manufacturer's willingness to embrace open standards. Some hardware simply won't be compatible, but there is a lot out there that is.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)