AppleInsider Staff
Two years after a successful funding round on Indiegogo, startup Friday Labs on Tuesday said it began shipping its HomeKit-enabled Friday smart lock to backers, while at the same time opening pre-orders to new customers.
Announced through the company's webpage, the Friday smart lock is now shipping out to backers of the original crowdfunding campaign that officially ended in May 2015.
In the intervening years, Friday Labs tacked on a few new features as hardware development progressed, including support for Apple's HomeKit smart home platform.
Like other retrofit smart lock offerings, Friday lock contains a battery powered motor and communications circuitry in its compact replaceable shell. The entire unit attaches atop an existing deadbolt using a universal metal baseplate system.
Host devices pair over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, while HomeKit takes care of home automation duties like locking the door at specific times or unlocking when a user approaches. HomeKit also means owners who have an Apple TV or compatible iPad can lock and unlock their door remotely using Siri commands.
An accompanying app enables remote locking and unlocking as well as key access sharing. For example, users can issue — and later revoke, if necessary — virtual keys to friends and family. The app also lets owners track lock activity throughout the day, while support for notifications and alerts enhances security.
For those who missed the Indiegogo campaign, Friday lock is available for $249 in a range of shell materials through the company's website. Units purchased today ship out in three to four weeks.
Malcolm Owen
William Gallagher
Charles Martin
Christine McKee
7 Comments
Friday Lock because the battery runs out on Friday. A lock with a three-month battery. What a joke.
At least it appears to be less ugly and obtrusive than that August smart lock. Personally, I'd rather change the battery more often and have something better looking.
Not that I'm interested in either of those products.
I would just like something like what we have at school with key fobs....all you do is put your keys near the sensor and it beeps and unlocks the door for a very short amount of time. You can control who gets a fob, what doors it opens, and you can go back into the system and see who opened what door, at what time, etc. When I have shit in my hands like bags of groceries or something I don't want to screw around with putting codes in a keypad to open a damn door. I can simply have the keys in my hands and simply put my hands near the reader.
It doesn't really matter what you have, if someone wants to get in bad enough they will. You can have 10 deadbolts on your door and someone will still find a way in.
If you lose your key fob, you just go into your system and disable the key fob. Should be easy enough to have a system that you can access on your phone from anywhere. Maybe a system like this already exists for home users.