TLDR
- The Connectivity Standards Alliance has officially launched Aliro 1.0. An open standard that turns your phone or smartwatch into a universal digital key.
- Apple, Google and Samsung all back it with credentials stored natively in Apple Wallet, Google Wallet and Samsung Wallet — no app or internet required.
- Certified smart locks and enterprise hardware are expected to hit shelves later in 2026, signaling the end of proprietary key card systems.
Your phone already pays for your coffee, boards your flight and stores your ID. So why are you still fumbling with a plastic key card to get into your office? Aliro 1.0 is the industry’s answer and it’s a big one.
On February 25, 2026, the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA). The same body behind the Matter smart home standard officially released the Aliro 1.0 specification. An open, interoperable protocol designed to make your smartphone or wearable work as a universal digital key across virtually any door: homes, offices, hotels, campuses, and government buildings.
What Exactly Is Aliro?
Aliro is an industry-wide communication and credential standard for digital access control. In plain English: it’s the technology that allows your iPhone, Android phone, or Galaxy Watch to unlock compatible doors regardless of the brand of lock or the building you’re entering.
Before Aliro, digital key systems were a fragmented mess. Every lock manufacturer had its own app, its own cloud system and its own credentials. Aliro replaces all of that with one universal layer similar to what Matter did for smart home devices like lights, thermostats and plugs.
Aliro is solving the fragmentation that has held back digital key adoption, said Tobin Richardson, President and CEO of the CSA. By connecting the access control industry directly to leading mobile wallet ecosystems. It delivers a secure, frictionless experience that goes well beyond the front door.
How Does Aliro 1.0 Actually Work?
Aliro supports three wireless technologies, each serving a different use case:
- NFC — Tap your phone to the reader for instant access, just like a contactless payment
- Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) — Initiate access from a few feet away without touching anything
- BLE + Ultra-Wideband (UWB) — Fully hands-free; the door unlocks as you walk toward it
Your digital key is stored directly inside your device’s native wallet Apple Wallet, Google Wallet, or Samsung Wallet. Meaning it works completely offline. No dedicated app. No cloud dependency. No internet required.
Security is handled through asymmetric cryptography, ensuring that communication between your device and any Aliro-certified reader is private, tamper-resistant and verified.
Who Is Behind Aliro?
This isn’t a startup project it’s a coalition effort. Seven founding companies pooled their core intellectual property to build the spec: Apple, ASSA ABLOY, Google, Infineon Technologies, Last Lock, Samsung and STMicroelectronics. Over 220 CSA member companies contributed to its development.
Hardware makers already lined up for Aliro 1.0 certification include Allegion, Aqara, HID, Kastle, Kwikset, Nuki Home Solutions, NXP Semiconductors, Nordic Semiconductor, and Qorvo covering everything from residential smart locks to enterprise-grade access readers. Products like the Aqara Smart Lock U300 and Nuki Smart Lock Pro have already launched with Aliro compatibility in mind.
What Does This Mean for You?
For homeowners, it means your smart lock can finally work natively with your phone’s wallet no proprietary hub required.
For enterprise IT and facilities managers, it means the end of expensive, vendor-locked badge systems. No more replacing every reader when you switch providers.
For travelers and hotel guests, it brings one-step mobile check-in and room access without downloading a hotel app.
The first wave of Aliro-certified hardware is expected to reach consumers and businesses later in 2026. With platform support from Apple, Google, and Samsung rolling out in the coming months.
What’s Coming Next?
Aliro 1.0 is built to evolve. The CSA has confirmed that future versions will tackle secure key sharing letting you digitally grant someone temporary or permanent access. Along with additional use cases and full backward compatibility with 1.0-certified hardware. Within the smart home world, Aliro integrates through Matter. which has already incorporated Aliro provisions in its latest specification.
The certification program is now open, and the industry momentum behind Aliro is unlike anything the access control space has seen before. If the Matter parallel holds, widespread adoption could come faster than most expect.
Physical keys had a good run. Aliro is what replaces them.
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Sources
- Introducing Aliro 1.0 — Connectivity Standards Alliance
- Aliro 1.0 Access Control Standard Released — Security Info Watch
- Apple, Google and Samsung Unlock Next-Gen Digital Keys — Forbes
- CSA Announces Aliro 1.0: Unified Access Control For Smart Locks — HomeKit News
- Apple-Supported Aliro 1.0 Smart Lock Standard Officially Released — MacRumors
- STMicroelectronics Powers Up Next-Generation Digital Access Control — STMicroelectronics Newsroom
- Aliro Smart Lock Standard Set to Launch This Year — The Verge
