August Home announces mortise kit for smart lock, Logitech POP switch integration

Designed for apartment buildings and new construction projects, the August Smart Lock Mortise Kit is a standalone add-on that enables the HomeKit-compatible August Smart Lock to control mortise style locks. The new conversion kit is a first for the North American market, August said.

Commonly seen in high-rises and multi-unit buildings, mortise locks combine a deadbolt and door handle into a cohesive unit. As consumer grade smart locks are designed to fit single-cylinder deadbolts like those found on the doors of most American homes, they are incompatible with mortise locks.

The conversion kit consists of a special metal backing plate that seamlessly integrates August Smart Lock with existing mortise hardware. Once installed, property managers and landlords can use the smart lock's HomeKit-enabled brains to easily control access to building areas or individual units via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

August said it created the kit after contractors and locksmiths expressed interest in a dedicated mortise lock solution.

The August Smart Lock Mortise Kit costs $100, not including the $199 August Smart Lock. August is selling the kit to locksmiths and property managers, noting the conversion process is somewhat more involved than a regular August Smart Lock installation.

Separately, August today announced full smart lock integration with Logitech's POP home switch, a popular connected device controller.

With the new capability, August Smart Locks can be mapped to one of POP's three custom triggers — tap, double tap and tap-and-hold — meaning locking and unlocking is now a tap or two away. Since POP supports recipe presets, August lock control can be applied to a more complex smart home macro.