{"id":961189,"date":"2026-11-12T00:46:13","date_gmt":"2026-11-12T00:46:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/961189\/"},"modified":"2026-11-12T00:46:13","modified_gmt":"2026-11-12T00:46:13","slug":"google-wallet-adds-digital-home-keys-with-nfc-and-uwb-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/961189\/","title":{"rendered":"Google Wallet adds digital home keys with NFC and UWB support"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"nuki<\/p>\n

Rita El Khoury \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

Add Android Authority on Google: <\/p>\n

TL;DR<\/p>\n

Google Wallet is gaining digital home keys, allowing Android users to unlock compatible smart locks with an NFC tap or hands-free using UWB.
\nThe feature supports select Aliro-compatible locks from Aqara, Schlage, and Nuki, with one digital key working across multiple locks in the same home.
\nThe functionality is rolling out to Google Home Public Preview users starting today, November 11, with wider availability expected over the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

Starting today, those in the Google Home app\u2019s Public Preview<\/a> will have the option to add their digital home keys to Google Wallet, allowing compatible smart lock owners to unlock doors by simply walking up to it or tapping their phones against the lock.<\/p>\n

For what it\u2019s worth, unlocking smart locks with phones isn\u2019t entirely new. You\u2019re already able to unlock compatible locks with Google Home, complete with one-tap unlock options that save a passcode on your phone. Alternatively, you\u2019re also able to unlock locks via their manufacturer\u2019s dedicated app.<\/p>\n

Samsung, on the other hand, brought digital keys to Samsung Wallet<\/a> earlier this year, allowing users to unlock compatible smart locks simply by tapping their phone.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Samsung just turned your Galaxy phone into a digital house key<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"Samsung<\/a><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s main development is that Google is now adding similar Samsung Wallet-like functionality to Google Wallet, bringing NFC and UWB unlocking to the mix. With NFC, you\u2019ll be able to tap your phone and unlock compatible locks. With UWB, you\u2019ll be able to unlock your door automatically just by walking up to it.<\/p>\n

\"google\"google<\/p>\n

Before you get too excited, this functionality won\u2019t work for all smart locks, at least for now. You\u2019ll need a Matter-certified smart lock that supports Aliro, a new open access standard from the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA). Google has confirmed three such smart lock products that are compatible at launch:<\/p>\n

Aqara U400: Supports NFC and UWB unlocking.
\nSchlage Sense Pro: Supports NFC at launch, UWB functionality coming later.
\nNuki Keypad 2 NFC: Supports NFC unlocking only.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Nuki’s new smart lock gives the US the tap-to-unlock standard it should have had years ago<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"Nuki<\/a><\/p>\n

Requirements on the smartphone side are relatively simple. For NFC unlocking, you\u2019ll need an NFC-enabled Android phone running Android 9 or later. For you\u2019ll need an Aliro UWB-compatible Android phone and smart lock. Google specifically mentioned the Pixel 10 Pro series and above, including Fold and XL models. \u201cSelect UWB-enabled Samsung Galaxy phones\u201d are also supported, Google added.<\/p>\n

Lastly, you\u2019ll also need a Matter-enabled Google Hub with a Thread Border Router to complete the setup. Compatible devices include the Nest Hub (2nd gen), Nest Hub Max, Nest Wifi Pro, and Google TV Streamer.<\/p>\n

One key to rule \u2019em all<\/p>\n

If you have multiple compatible Aliro locks installed around your home, a single digital key in Google Wallet will work with all of them. This is because your Google Wallet key is tied to your home in the Google Home app, instead of being tied to an individual smart lock.<\/p>\n

Considering that, security is of utmost importance here. Both NFC and UWB unlocking work without the need to unlock your phone, provided that the phone has been unlocked within the previous few hours. This ensures that if someone gets hold of your phone, they can\u2019t unlock your door later without first knowing the passcode to your phone. As an added safeguard, you have the option to disable automatic unlocking and have Google Wallet require screen lock or biometric verification every time you tap to unlock.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, UWB-powered Unlock on Approach is disabled by default to ensure that you don\u2019t unknowingly unlock your house while walking past it.<\/p>\n

How to add a digital key to Google Wallet<\/p>\n

Provided that you have compatible hardware, as shared above, and that you\u2019re running the latest Google Wallet and Google Home builds, adding a key to Google Wallet is relatively straightforward.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re setting up a new Matter and Aliro-compatible smart lock, Google Home will automatically prompt you to add a digital home key to Google Wallet. If you\u2019ve already set up your lock, you\u2019ll be able to manually add the key by heading to Google Home > Home settings > Google Wallet key.<\/p>\n

Although limited to Public Preview Google Home users for now, the functionality will expand to everyone over the coming weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rita El Khoury \/ Android Authority Add Android Authority on Google: TL;DR Google Wallet is gaining digital home…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":961190,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[64,63,113,61557,43562,203,94471,25216,105,218938],"class_list":["post-961189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mobile","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-google","tag-google-home","tag-google-wallet","tag-mobile","tag-nfc","tag-samsung-wallet","tag-technology","tag-uwb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/961189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=961189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/961189\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/961190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=961189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=961189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=961189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}