In the past few months of using the Level Lock+, my mind has been doing a lot of thinking about the role of hardware in the future of the smart home. Sure, software (even voice) is great for interacting with devices, but there’s something I’ve found magical about Home Key. My smartphone is hardware device that interacts with my hardware lock through software. The software is invisible. It’s been so wonderful just tapping my iPhone on the lock and having it open. It’s also led me to believe that Apple should continue pulling at that string going forward. Of course, all this will apply to the recently released Aqara smart lock with Home Key support.
HomeKit Weekly is a series focused on smart home accessories, automation tips and tricks, and everything to do with Apple’s smart home framework.
AirTag and Home Key
AirTag is a device that I’ve continued to find interesting. It’s one of the few Apple devices not designed for you to use. It’s just there. Whenever you need to find something, it’s just there waiting on you. It verifies who I am through iCloud. It got me to think more about how AirTag could be evolved to become a more critical part of the Apple experience.
First of all, why can’t AirTag be a Home Key? Let me just tap it on the lock to trigger the lock/unlock sequence. It would be yet another way along with Apple Watch and iPhone to use Home Key. Your keys are some of the most personable devices on you, so you could designate your Airtag on your keys as “Home Key enabled”. AirTag could also be designed (along with the Mac) to unlock my Mac when I get very close, but then unlock as I walk away. It’s extended the Apple Watch’s ability to unlock your Mac back to AirTags. Is it as secure as AirTag? No, but it’s also possible future futures of AirTag could include a Touch ID component as well.
What else?
I think this idea of an Apple device that can trigger aspects of your smart home based on proximity would be extremely interesting. What if AirTag technology could added to your shoes so HomeKit knows what room of the house you’re in? What if AirTags could be designed as “sensors” to detect other devices? Let’s say that you could leave an AirTag in the living room and it could detect an Apple Watch or iPhone entering the room and adjust scenes based on the connection.
Wrap up
There’s a lot of magic when you have the hardware to software and back to hardware for a smart home. Using a Home Key can trigger scenes in your home for lighting, music, and temperature that a traditional key can’t do. Home Key brings that near reliability of a physical key, though. It’s a key that has software, not a software key unlock. AirTag has a lot of potential as a low-cost NFC device to extend this thinking further as well. For the moment, I am going to add on the Level Key Cards as a short term way to handle the door unlock.
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