Before smart locks, we had a system of a half-dozen spots around the neighborhood where we’d hide spare keys.
Under the recycling bin. At a sympathetic deli. In a neighbor’s potted palm. (Really.)
It was all we could do to avoid getting locked out, or best handle a key pick-up for someone who needed to get into our apartment.
Oh, times have changed.
KeyWe, currently Kickstarting for $99 (and already having surpassed its $30k goal 10 times over), is an ingenious device that offers six ways to get into your apartment.
Love and trust technology? Then use Smart Open, which taps your phone’s Bluetooth. Walk up to your door, and it unlocks. And then it’ll lock right behind you.
Hate and deeply mistrust technology? There’s a mechanical key that comes with the set.
And there are still four more ways to use KeyWe, including via NFC — on your phone, or NFC-enabled wristbands. Wifi will work, too.
A one-time passcode should make deliveries easier. Guests coming? Give them their guest access code — they won’t need to register on the app, which streamlines the process (especially if you’re dealing with technophobes or Airbnb guests grumpy about any layer of check-in complexity).
Best of all: This is no vaporware. KeyWes will ship not at some far-off future date, but in August.
Note: At press time, there were precisely 24 (out of 800) early-bird KeyWes available at $99. So get on that … or plan on ponying up an extra 40 bucks.
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