Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Yale Launches Apple Home Key-Enabled Assure Lock 2 Plus
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Keys and cash, never flat, don’t need electricity or the internet and can’t be hacked remotely.
100%! The battery died suddenly in my Level and it would be a real pain if it hadn't been for the physical key.
Love our Yale Assure also. Has worked perfectly and reliably for two years. Same here, rechargeable batteries last about a year and app gives plenty of warning when batteries approach low.
I don't see what the concern is about lack of a physical backup key. I keep a box of 9V batteries in the garage as a backup to jumpstart the Yale in a worst-case scenario. I don't carry any keys anymore, just my phone and wallet/license.
I’ve just been down this road, but I’m in the U.K so YMMV.
Ive just installed a Nuki Pro 3.0 and came across this very problem.
Very few locks in the U.K. allow you to unlock a door from the outside, when there’s a key in the lock inside.
That’s called an “emergency“ feature and it took me a while to find a highly rated lock that offers it.
That being said, once I’d got it, my wife was v happy that we had the feature.
What would you do if you got home one day and the lock had (for whatever reason) died?
Simple, I stock a few 9V batteries in my garage and press a battery to the two contacts underneath the Yale lock to provide power and restore operation.
That bit I understood, but what if the lock wouldn’t take a charge and was just dead?
Ah, if it completely seized or broke I still have a door with a traditional key lock and would go to my parents' house, 5 minutes away, for the emergency set.
I don't like carrying keys and am relieved not having to fiddle with then anymore. It is ironic, I used to carry a lot of key sets and fobs (house, car, mail, business, etc.) but none now. It is nice without all that metal in my pockets. I still have keys for various things, but I no longer require them on me when I leave the house.
Last edited:
What do you do if you come home and someone put superglue in your normal lock, or if your normal lock for some reason doesn’t work (happens sometimes). You call a locksmith that comes out and solves the problem.
The question is rather if it is probable that you’d have to do that with a smart lock like this, I know plenty of people that have them but never heard of anyone being locked out by the locks not working.
What happens if your mechanical lock has a mechanical failure? Locks breaks, smart locks are no different.
I'm not sure I'd agree it was "stupid" as a lot of smart locks have no key backup and seem to sell, but I do agree I would never get one without it.
I have a Yale Linus and it works superbly. It requires either a thumb turn on the inside of the lock or a lock that can have a key in both sides of it at the same time. The latter is extremely rare in Euro Cylinder locks like the ones we have in the UK, but I bought an Ultion lock with a thumb turn on the inside, used a belt sander to reduce the size of the thumb turn so it would fit inside the Linus and voila. HomeKit (with adapter) enabled and has a keyed backup. Also have the external keypad and it works perfectly. Integrates with all my scenes for things like locking the house and setting the alarm at night, auto unlocking when I get home etc.
To be fair the batteries last a REALLY long time in this thing but if the battery ever fails in it, I have my key so all is well. HomeKey sounds nice but to be honest with the integrations and scene support I have set up my door is just open when I walk up to it anyway when I get home!
I have a Yale Assure smart lock that I love and highly recommend, but I would never get a lock that doesn’t allow key use.
I can’t remember the last time I used my house key, but I sure have one at a friend’s house, just in case.
I can’t remember the last time I used my house key, but I sure have one at a friend’s house, just in case.
I saw one that has a USB-C port where you can connect a power bank (or your phone) to give it enough juice to work. I thought that was pretty smart.
But I still require a key with my smart lock.
No backup key? Finally!
Assuming the keypad is just a keypress encoder and the actual locking system is entirely inside, and assuming that I can control this entirely with Homekit locally and Yale doesn't have any way to remote unlock it, I will seriously consider getting one of these.
The vast majority of smartlocks are fatally flawed by having a backup keyway. The owner never uses it, but they're almost universally easily pickable garbage. I'm not a great picker, but I can open a typical one in less than 5 minutes.
The "best" keyway at this point is Kwikset's Smartkey, they're not really pickable with traditional methods, but if you spend a bit on a keyway camera and a key cutter (or just a file if you're patient) you can decode them and cut your own key.
Backup keys on smartlocks are stupid.
Assuming the keypad is just a keypress encoder and the actual locking system is entirely inside, and assuming that I can control this entirely with Homekit locally and Yale doesn't have any way to remote unlock it, I will seriously consider getting one of these.
The vast majority of smartlocks are fatally flawed by having a backup keyway. The owner never uses it, but they're almost universally easily pickable garbage. I'm not a great picker, but I can open a typical one in less than 5 minutes.
The "best" keyway at this point is Kwikset's Smartkey, they're not really pickable with traditional methods, but if you spend a bit on a keyway camera and a key cutter (or just a file if you're patient) you can decode them and cut your own key.
Backup keys on smartlocks are stupid.
Sure, that's fine, but have you ever wondered if you, or another family member, forgot to lock a door or close your garage?
With the app I can verify whether the door is locked and, if not, remotely lock it. Same for my garage, with myQ, I can remotely close/open my garage. Can't do any of that with just a key.
Edit: Possible I misunderstood your original comment. If you meant you prefer a backup key option, then cool, my mistake.
Last edited:
No thread is better. Your Lock is critical and you’ll want your lock to be your lock, not jack of all trades.