One of the biggest problems in the smart lock market is the lack of a unified standard. Now, with an announcement at the CES 2026 exhibition taking place these days in Vegas, the problem is finally being solved. Meet Aliro, a unified standard for smart locks that was first announced back in 2023, but has now matured and will reach the market in the first quarter of the year.
The idea behind Aliro is to create a common language between a smart lock and a smartphone or smartwatch — regardless of the manufacturer or operating system — and to eliminate the “Tower of Babel” of smart locks. In practice, this is meant to translate the experience of opening the door by tapping, just as we pay today with our phones, using NFC by tapping on the door or via low-energy Bluetooth (BLE), and in supported models also automatic unlocking, using ultra-wideband (UWB) communication, similar to what already exists in cars today.
At the CSA, the standards organization behind it, which is also responsible for other well-known standards such as Matter and Zigbee, Aliro is presented as a solution based on direct and secure communication between the device and the lock: There is no need to open a dedicated app and no dependence on the cloud, as the credentials are stored on the device and the communication uses asymmetric encryption — unlocking moves to the operating system level. One practical result is that the unlocking mechanism is supposed to work even when the phone is not connected to the network or has no reception, similar to a physical key.
You’ll need to upgrade
The standard is already gaining support from all the relevant technology giants: Apple, Google, and Samsung, alongside lock manufacturers and players in the chip and components worlds. According to the report, several lock manufacturers have already declared their intention to support Aliro, including prominent brands in the smart lock world, such as Nuki, Level, and others.
However, Aliro will not necessarily be a “software update” for existing locks. To support the new protocols, locks require compatible communication components and antennas, so existing smart locks may not be upgradable to the new universal standard.