Back in November 2023, the Connectivity Standards Alliance – of Matter and Zigbee fame – took the covers off a new standard, Aliro… which is now official with the 1.0 specification going live.
Described as “a new communication protocol and credential standard designed to revolutionize how users interact with access points in every aspect of their lives” the Alliance has, as it did with Matter, pulled together some of the biggest names in tech to champion the effort.
The likes of Apple, Google and Samsung are all on board to support Aliro through their digital wallet offerings on smartphones and smartwatches, which should streamline smart locks and electronic access systems, with less of a mishmash of technologies than is currently the case.
That doesn’t mean the likes of NFC, Ultra-Wideband or Bluetooth are going away, rather Aliro aims to bring all of these communication methods under one roof in a more usable way.
The idea is you will need fewer apps or proprietary keys, and there should be a much better chance that the phone or watch you already use can unlock whatever door or gate you want to open.
The Alliance says that more than 220 of its members are involved in the Aliro push and we’ve already seen locks such as the Aqara Smart Lock U400 and the Nuki Smart Lock Pro (4th-gen) being announced in recent months, clearly with Aliro in mind.
Beyond Aqara and Nuki, the Alliance says companies such as Assa Abloy, Allegion, HID, Kwikset and several major silicon vendors are already preparing for certification.
The idea is somewhat familiar if you’ve followed Matter but the scope is very different.
Aliro is not just about the smart home and your front door, the Alliance is positioning it as a single, interoperable layer for access control across offices, apartment blocks, hotels, campuses and anywhere else that still relies on a patchwork of cards, fobs and proprietary apps.
In practice, that means a digital key living inside your Apple, Google or Samsung wallet that works reliably across brands, locations and use cases, rather than being locked to one manufacturer’s ecosystem.
As mentioned, Aliro does not replace the radios already used for smart locks and access systems. NFC remains central for tap-to-unlock, Bluetooth LE handles longer range interactions, and Bluetooth LE combined with Ultra-Wideband enables more seamless, hands-free access.
The difference is that Aliro standardises how credentials are issued, stored and authenticated across those transports, including offline scenarios like underground car parks or elevators where cloud connectivity is not guaranteed.
Security and privacy are core to the spec, with the Alliance pointing to asymmetric cryptography and a certification programme designed to stop the sort of fragmented, half-baked implementations that have plagued digital keys in the past.
Brands that want to sell Aliro products will need to go through formal testing to get their devices certified.
As with Matter, Aliro 1.0 is very much a starting point. The Alliance is already talking about future updates to support richer key sharing and expanded use cases, while maintaining backward compatibility so early deployments are not left behind.
