GUIDE: How do I set up Auto-Unlock and how does it work?

[hsiang]

How Do I Set up Auto-Unlock?

For you to turn Auto-Unlock on, please follow the steps below:

1. Open the Sesame app, click on the little gear icon on the top left of the main menu
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Tap on the little gear icon on the top right of your Sesame menu
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. In Account Settings, scoll to the “KNOCK & AUTO-UNLOCK” section
4. First enable the “KNOCK & AUTO-UNLOCK” function, marked as “1”. Second, check under the auto-unlock feature.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. You will be asked to set your location; double check to make sure the GPS is enabled in phone’s settings.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. When the Auto-Unlock function is successfully set up, the message “Location updated successfully” will show up.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Congratulations, You’re all set here.
   
   

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How Does it Work?
Please note when the “auto-unlock” function is turned on, it does NOT mean your door will be unlocked when you’re by the door.

(Reference Image)


The auto-unlock feature will wake up as soon as you enter a 100m distance from your Sesame, which roughly translates to 1-2 blocks away. Once you are within the Bluetooth range of your Sesame, and your phone is connected to your Bluetooth, your Sesame will unlock the door for you.


After you leave your house (or your office, or wherever your Sesame is), once you’re outside the 100m radius, you will see a notification that says “Goodbye”. And when you return, and enter the 100m radius, you will see a notification saying “Welcome back.” This shows the auto-unlock feature is functioning properly.


As soon as you step within Sesame’s Bluetooth range, approximately 30 ft or less, your Sesame will connect to your smartphone and unlock the door. You will then see the "Open Sesame" notification.


Troubleshoot: if the auto-unlock feature is not functioning properly, you will still be able to unlock your door via your Sesame app manually or with your key.

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Why doesn’t my “auto unlock” work even when I am in the 100m radius?

Auto unlock depends on your GPS, so your GPS must be in the 100m radius.

This is usually a problem for iPhones, because the GPS does not constantly update. It will update only after a bit of time, thus you might have to wait for the GPS to "catch up" with you in the 100m radius.

On entering the 100m radius, your Sesame wake up and wait to connect via Bluetooth to your phone. So this means if your GPS is not in that 100m radius, your Sesame will not wake up and so even when you reach the door, it does not auto unlock.

To enhance the accuracy of your GPS, please turn on your Wi-Fi function (just like when playing Pokemon Go.)

[jerming]

[dc331903]

Will this functionality change with the WiFi access point connected?

[chunmanchiu]

What is it supposed to do? If I know what it is I'd be more comfortable trying it and can offer you better feedback on how it is working (or not).

[Evelyn]

Hey guys,

Sorry for the lack of instructions.

For Auto-Unlock on Android, you should see a selection in your Account Settings for you to turn the feature on. When you tap on that feature, you should be asked to set your location. Drop the blue pin where your home is. Double check to make sure the GPS isn't off.

Use this icon to pinpoint your location:

The radius covering your blue pin is the area you must leave in order for Auto-Unlock to register that you've left your home. That distance is about 200m, roughly translated to 2 blocks or so.

Once outside the radius, you should see a notification thats says "Goodbye," and when upon entering, you should see a notification that says, "Welcome back." This shows that Auto-Unlock is functioning. When you enter within your Sesame's bluetooth range, it will start to unlock. You will then see a "Success" notification, or a "Failed" notification.

In case Auto-Unlock has failed, you can still unlock your door via tapping on the app manually. If somehow your connection time is taking way too long, especially if longer than usual, it's safe to say that Auto-Unlock has failed and you might want to open your door using the app. It is recommended that Auto-Unlock beta be paired with Auto-Lock. If for some reason, your connection time is taking too long, it is possible that your door could be auto-unlocked after you've already entered your house. Auto-Lock will then lock your door.

Thanks for taking the time to test drive this feature, we really appreciate the help. Let me know if you have any other questions regarding this beta.

[schlotz]

Is this beta available for iOS users to try/test? If so, how?

[Evelyn]

Hi schlotz,

I'll be creating a form for you to input your Apple ID if you're interested in testing auto-unlock. It'll be posted on Kickstarter.

[chris.thro]

After figuring out how it worked I successfully auto-unlocked my door and I was so happy. Great progress.

One thing is that auto-unlock is causing the "Location Found" notification to continuously pop-up on my s6 edge from Verizon. If I clear it it just comes back. I try very hard to keep my notifications clean and avoid persistent notifications unless absolutely necessary. I'm really hoping this can be changed when it is officially released. Please keep up the good work; it gets better with each update.

Thank you

[schlotz]

Thanks Evelyn. Will this work on iOS as described in https://developer.apple.com/testflight/ which suggests you will send me an email invitation to install TestFlight which, in turn, allows me to install the Sesame beta app and test? I'm not sure about the form you mentioned... I don't see anything in Kickstarter (I assume it would be in Messages under My Stuff)??

[Evelyn]

Hey schlotz,

The update hasn't been posted yet

You can register your Apple ID and receive a code for the TestFlight by inputting your ID here.

[schlotz]

Saw it... Thanks again Evelyn!

[schlotz]

Hi Evelyn. Ok, i've installed the iOS beta and I have turned on both the auto-unlock and the knock on phone options. But there is nothing in the interface to tell the app where the lock is located (as shown in your instructions for the Android app), and no indication that it has determined it from the contact identifying "me". Is there something I need to do? Or does it just assume I have left by the bluetooth connection being broken (seemingly not from my testing - it doesn't unlock when back in BT range)? If it requires knowing its location, then there needs to be something in the interface to select the necessary contact (or point on map) and showing the location once it is acquired.

Also, after repeated testing, the knock feature just will not work. This was working fairly well in the production app.

Let me know if I should be putting beta feedback in a different place

[Evelyn]

Hey schlotz,

I see that you've moved this to the beta thread, and this issue has been solved. We'd go from there. Thanks for bringing it over!

[wolfman566]

The auto-unlock feature is awesome, but have one question: is there a way to adjust the radius? Mine is welcoming me back when I am passing by the house -- 2 miles away! But it is working great!

[hsiang]

Hi @wolfman566,

As for now, we don't have a way for you to adjust the radius but we're working on it.

[GraceH]

I bought this lock cuz it locks nice, but after using it for almost 6 months, i found that it was a stupid door lock. I have to give it up.

auto-unlock based on gps is the stupidest feature, which is not necessary at all for a smart door lock. in the middle of night, my phone got the goodbye or welcome message from the door lock , freaked me out!

where is the knock on the door feature? the official website says that you can knock on the phone or door. I don't want to knock on my phone which never worked.

and the lock working so slowly made me feel that battery might be dead.

[hsiang]

Hi @GraceH

auto-unlock based on gps is the stupidest feature, which is not necessary at all for a smart door lock. in the middle of night, my phone got the goodbye or welcome message from the door lock , freaked me out!

It is because the inaccuracy of the GPS that triggered the goodbye/welcome message from the door lock. Could you please turn off the auto-unlock function for now? We're working on improving this function.

where is the knock on the door feature? the official website says that you can knock on the phone or door. I don't want to knock on my phone which never worked.

We did not release the "knock on the door" feature because we found that some people live pretty close to their neighbors and others could hear the sound of them knocking on the door. For security purpose, we do not offer the knock on the door function yet. For the "knock on your phone" feature, please refer to the guide (How do I set up the Knock function and how does it work? as a reference.

and the lock working so slowly made me feel that battery might be dead.

Can you please provide us with concrete details such as slow connection, disconnected...etc? so I can help you troubleshoot. Thank you.

We're really sorry that you had this experience. We will always do our best to help you, and hope you can enjoy it as much as we do.

• Alice

[scott]

Sometimes after locking my office door for the end of day, I realize I need to goto the bathroom. I walk the 40 feet to the bathroom, and then must walk back past my office door to leave the building. I believe on a few occasions, the Auto-Unlock feature has been triggered as I walked by to leave.

Additionally, sometimes in the morning, I'll unlock the door with a key, go inside, re-lock the door to keep out zombies. I walk to my desk and the Auto-Unlock feature kicks in and unlocks the door.

My request is that besides a distance-based requirement (100ft) which can be flakey, what about a time-based requirement that X minutes (5?) must pass since the last locked/unlocked state-change, before the Auto-Unlock feature will trigger. I think this adjustment would resolve both my glitches and wouldn't disappoint many other folk.

[cim]

Sorry to hear that you're having issues with auto-unlock! The issue you've described may be caused by GPS drift - if your GPS location appears to exit and then enter the geofence set up around your Sesame, the app will assume that you're returning and need to trigger auto-unlock. Unfortunately, issues with GPS drift is out of our control, and we apologize for the inconvenience. We will be looking into solutions for this issue.

Regarding the second issue, currently auto-unlock is set to trigger regardless of time since last unlock because we can't guarantee that the person who manually unlocked Sesame is the same person who wanted auto-unlock to trigger. In this case we would recommend either using your key to unlock every time and turning off auto-unlock, or letting auto-unlock trigger rather than manually opening the door. This will keep Sesame from getting unlocked a second time due to auto-unlock.

We know auto-unlock doesn't always work perfectly due to issues with GPS drift, connection delays, and other issues, and we will be working hard to improve this feature! - CANDY HOUSE

[del80]

I recently did a firmware reset on my android 6.0.1 and after installing the newest candyhouse sesame app I can't get the auto-unlock to work.I get the following error when trying to set the location:
"Error:Status{statusCode=PLACES_API_ACCESS_NOT_CONFIGURE, resolution=null}

The auto-unlock worked fine before the firmware reset on older candyhouse app.