The Dutch LOQED launched its smart lock at the beginning of 2020 that makes your house keys superfluous. In this article I explain about LOQED and the major update that was recently released for the smart lock.
LOQED Touch Smart Lock
For many, the confidence in a smart lock to open the door is just a bridge too far. That’s what I initially thought too when Loqed sent me their first version of the Smart Lock. Yet the smart lock has been on my front door for over a year now and I only use the bunch of keys to open the barn door, never again. Pierre van den Oord and Jeroen van Oorschot, founders of LOQED, have not been idle and have released several new functions for the smart lock. I’ll go through them with you.
1. Twist assist
LOQED’s smart lock can now take over the movement you give the rotary knob. If you open the lock a bit, the lock will complete the opening for you. You turn on the function in the app. I’ve tried it and it works fine, although it will drain the batteries faster. If you want to prevent this, simply close the lock by hand.
2. LOQED Power Kit
The batteries contained in the LOQED lock last from nine to twelve months. You will receive a notification as soon as they are almost empty. Did you ignore this message and are they empty? Then your door won’t open. You can then kickstart the smart lock with a 9-volt battery. The lock then has just enough power to be opened. You have to keep this 9-volt battery somewhere outside the house so that you can always reach it.
In July, the smart lock received support for the LOQED Power Kit with which you will never have to replace the batteries of the lock. This package consists of a power adapter and eight AA NiMH rechargeable batteries. You connect the charger as soon as the lock indicates that the batteries are almost empty. Fortunately, the charging cord is three meters long, which will be long enough for most people to bridge the gap to the nearest outlet.
3. Touch to open restriction
I assume in the review of the LOQED lock that the ‘Touch to open’ function is, in my opinion, the most important function of the lock, and also the one with the highest psychological threshold. With this function, when you are close to the lock (~3 meters), you can open the lock after just a few seconds by pressing the display as soon as it shows ‘Touch to open’. You can read exactly how the technology works here.
‘Touch to open’ only works if you:
- have been away from your home for at least 10 minutes
- have been at least 500 meters from your home
- 3 meters in front of your door (it doesn’t work inside)
If you do not meet one of these three criteria, you can only open the lock via the app or with the PIN code. Touch to open also works with different techniques to find out that you are at the door and not the neighbor across the street. Think of positioning via mobile phone masts and WiFi, geofencing and Bluetooth.
The July update now also includes the option to disable this 500 meter restriction. You can then walk to the car to grab something, walk back and open the door with the push of a button. Entering a pin code or accessing the app is then not necessary. This feature is still experimental and is not yet secure enough in a number of situations. The limitations will be resolved with a software update in the future.
4. Timetables for visitors and family members
During my testing period last year, I encountered a number of shortcomings, including being able to set access times for family members and visitors. That is now possible. You can enter a specific date and time once for if your son has a party on the weekend and comes home late or set a recurring schedule. You can use this, for example, for the cleaning lady who comes to clean your house every Friday. As soon as someone enters with a key, you will receive a notification on your phone.
5. Timetables
Another shortcoming has been resolved, and that is the timetables. You can now open and close the door automatically at a specified time. You can automatically put the door on the deadbolt before going to sleep and remove it again before you have to go to work.
The so-called ‘string from the letterbox’ function lets anyone in without needing a phone or a pin code. This can come in handy when the kids are playing outside. You can now also link this function to a time schedule. Everyone can then open the door with a touch in a certain period of time. This way you no longer have to walk to the front door during your birthday when the doorbell rings. The visitors just let themselves in.
6. Guest Link for Guests
As an administrator, you can create digital keys for your children or guests in the LOQED app. You then send that key to the recipient via WhatsApp, text message, or e-mail. The disadvantage is that the receiver has to install the LOQED app. With the so-called Guest Link that is no longer necessary. Guests can then open a LOQED page in the browser via the link and there they will see the open and close button of your door.
As with point 5, you can also add a time schedule to the key here. This makes handing out keys to your B&B guests very easy.
7. Two-Factor Authentication
The LOQED Touch Smart Lock is getting two-factor authentication for the app this week. This adds an extra layer of security to the app and makes it extra difficult for malicious parties to get into your account.
Upcoming Features
There are still a number of functions that are not yet supported. For example, direct integration with the Google Assistant is not yet available. A detour via IFTTT and webhooks is the alternative for now. There is already direct integration with Homey via a special LOQED app for Homey. You find on this page all current integrations of LOQED with other smart home products. It is also stated for which smart home products direct integration (so without a detour) follows.
Are you curious about the other possibilities of the LOQED smart lock? Then read our preview. As soon as Google Assistant support is here, we’ll report it here on Androidworld. Do you have a smart lock or are you considering buying one? Let us know in the comments below this article.