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Would smart locks fit my lifestyle?
(lemmy.thewooskeys.com)
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this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2026
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I have a Tapo (TP-Link) lock, and I can sorta do it a few ways.
I think the issue with what you are wanting (approaching the door and it unlocking for you / geofencing) is that when you are home, your devices' presence could or would be triggering it often throughout the day. It would either be annoying, constantly killing the battery in the lock, or worst case scenario, you go to check on a sound and approach the door, coincidentally unlocking it for an intruder.
What I can do with my lock is just manually unlock, set a time trigger to lock/unlock, tap a button in the app (which you may be able to put on your home screen?) or I can tell my smart speaker to unlock the door. There's probably a few other options in forgetting. The main reason I have it is to let us know when the door doesn't close all the way, to give a handsfree way to unlock when carrying stuff, and I have a trigger where if it's between sunset and sunrise, it will turn on the indoor light for a set time after the door unlocks so you don't stumble in blind.
Good point. Open-from-inside using facial recognition would cut down on false positives. But I can see how it could be important to not have any situations where your door is unlocked when you don't want it to be.
It'd be twice as costly with readers on both sides, and the bulk on the inside of my unit is mostly the battery, so you'd either have a much bulkier interior unit or a smaller battery, and if you're close enough for face/NFC/whatever reader that wouldn't false positive, you're likely close enough to just unlock manually.
I was thinking maybe a downward projecting motion sensor so it could see you approach would be small and read an small enough area, but the first time a pet goes to the door, you're unlocked unintentionally again! ๐ธ