I wonder if the lock will survive the LockPickingLawyer test.
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Level Lock+ Smart Lock With Home Key Support Launches in Apple Retail Stores
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Battery life is Key 🔑. Lol Fr I won’t want to change a battery every 6 months on all my doors it’s already a pain in my garage door sensors.
It’s instantaneous for me. There’s no way Siri should be faster. Home key requires no network communication.
Doing that renders the product moot, so you have to leave the door knob below the deadbolt unlocked and just rely on the deadbolt.
Honestly my most-used feature is being able to ask Siri if I remembered to lock the door after I’m already away from the house, and then having her lock it if I forgot. Second most useful feature is being able to let someone in to the house when I’m away, either by unlocking it with the App or granting them their own access.
August locks use two CR123 batteries, talk about expensive and they die every 3 months, if you are lucky.
For me it usually is just me fumbling around and waving the phone around in multiple orientations trying to see if it will work better if I hold the top of the phone near the lock, or the side of the phone, or the middle, or if I angle it this way, or that way, etc… before I know it, a minute has gone by and I’m still standing in front of the door.
It was like this on my 11 Pro Max, and I was curious if it would improve at all when I got my 14 Pro Max but it’s pretty much the same. My Apple Watch Series 7 also. I think Siri would be faster even if I didn’t get a head start asking her to unlock as I walked up to the door.
Not to say that I don’t love the lock, it’s still really nice to not deal with keys anymore. But the performance of the NFC/UWB or whatever Home Key uses leaves some to be desired.
I have really hard time understanding the lousy state of US front door locking. When living in Europe (Finland):
Is there a building code or something else preventing from importing locks from Europe?
- The door always automatically and securely locks when you close it (no need to "remember to lock the door")
- Locks are secure (next to impossible to pick Assa Abloy locks are used almost everywhere)
- Doors must open from inside to out due to fire safety. As an additional benefit, doors are impossible to "kick in" and there is no way of sliding a credit card (etc) between the latch.
Is there a building code or something else preventing from importing locks from Europe?
Yes! Level locks are horribly unreliable. Just look at reviews for them on Reddit.com/r/homekit
If 0.1% of iPhone users in America bought one, that still would be over 100,000 units sold.
Can soneone clue me in please.
Thats great for the deadbolt, but what about the lockable handle? Phone for the top & key for the handle?? Makes absolutely no sense. 🤦♂️
Thats great for the deadbolt, but what about the lockable handle? Phone for the top & key for the handle?? Makes absolutely no sense. 🤦♂️
I wish that both August and Yale would both support home key. They are both made by the same company and are in most ways the same lock. But that would give home key a major brand of locks.
Even if they did, I’m sure they’d require new hardware. Of all the 40+ HomeKit devices I’ve purchased, the August hardware is probably the most disappointing when it comes to ongoing support. As soon as they launch a new model with little to no improvements, all firmware updates stop.
As a door lock, I expect better. I don’t even necessarily need new features, but security patches shouldn’t be held back as soon as they have new hardware to peddle.
Level products don't work with my door. Found out when I bought the Bolt after moving into my new house last year. I returned it and was using the Vocolinc lock until I found the Encode Plus at Lowe's at the end of September. I love it and Home Key makes my life so much easier. (I'm disabled and lack dexterity for a key while maneuvering my wheelchair, phone is easier in my case)
Why do all these companies think people don’t lock the handle? If they don’t have both covered with a keyed alike version it’s useless. Then pricing in the stratosphere for half the job.
You have restored my faith in MR for the rest of the year. Bless you. "And as always, have a nice day..."
It is important to note that this Lock+ has NOT launched at all Apple Stores yet. My local Apple Store confirmed via phone call that they only have the Level Touch at this time. It is also not yet sold directly from Level, nor is it available at Best Buy, etc.
It's been a weird soft launch roll-out following that misdirection regarding HomeKey support. At some point they're going to need to publish a press release and announce Lock+ as something that exists and is available.
It's been a weird soft launch roll-out following that misdirection regarding HomeKey support. At some point they're going to need to publish a press release and announce Lock+ as something that exists and is available.
I have a Schlage lock on both my front doors and I do not even bother locking them 90% of the time. Maybe instead of worrying about the quality of your lock, you should move to a neighborhood where you are not constantly worried about break-ins. I am looking forward to this lock, as it has the biggest advantage of not looking like an electronic lock. I like my Schlage, but it is ugly and I am not a fan of having door codes as they always leak (one needs to give one’s code to someone for something and then they need to give it to someone, etc.).