Apple Watch Now Unlocks Doors (With August Smart Lock)

The folks behind the August Smart Lock revealed a new feature Wednesday that allowed users to unlock their door with an Apple Watch. This app update for August Smart Locks does not require an iPhone nearby when the unlock switch is tapped. "The all-new native August Apple Watch app lets house 'Owners' with any generation of our August Smart Lock and any Apple Watch control their lock, without needing to carry their iPhone."

Once an Apple Watch user and August Smart Lock home Owner has their newest app and OS software in place, they'll be able to do several things. Without the use of an iPhone, the Apple Watch user will be able to view multiple locks, choose a lock, unlock or lock a lock, and add August Smart Lock to the watch's "watch face shortcut" list.

This functionality is different from the August Lock's "Auto-Unlock" feature. For that, users will need their iPhone nearby, whereas the Apple Watch unlock requires no iPhone. Auto-Unlock works with different wireless technology than the Apple Watch's new unlock feature.

To get this new feature, August Smart Lock and Apple Watch users and owners will need to update their August App. This is the August App for iPhone, and the version number will need to be 6.7.10 or higher. Users will need to be running WatchOS 4 or higher for this feature to work. Once the app and OS are updated, the user will need to launch the August Apple Watch app, then login on the watch's connected iPhone to sync locks.

Apple Watch users with the latest WatchOS and August App version will need to be set up as a house Owner in order for this feature to work. Users will need to be promoted from Guest to Owner, or they will not be given any unlock functionality with their Apple Watch. Users will need to open their Guest List in the August app, Tap a Guest, and update their Access Level to Owner – then save changes.