Improving Auto Unlock

With Auto Unlock Nuki unlocks your door automatically when you come home. You want to enhance Auto Unlock? There are several settings that affect the quality of the feature and can be used for troubleshooting, for example location services, Wi-Fi or battery settings.

Auto Unlock in detail

Auto Unlock works by combining GPS (Geofences), Bluetooth and movement data. With the GPS on your smartphone Nuki recognizes when you leave your home. The geofence is a virtual fence drawn around this location. It acts as an invisible barrier around your home.
As soon as you enter the Geofence, the Nuki App begins to scan for your device via Bluetooth. Next, the app tries to establish a Bluetooth connection to your Nuki device. If this succeeds within a maximum of 20 minutes, your door will be unlocked automatically. All you need to do now is enter your home.

The next Auto Unlock will only be triggered when you exit the Geofence and enter it again. With this Nuki avoids unwanted locking operations. The Nuki App automatically determines an ideal geofence size for your environment. This is at least 100 meters in size (radius).

The Bluetooth range of your Nuki device is about 10 meters. The range can be reduced by doors, walls and other interference.

Needed for Auto Unlock

Location services

Make sure that location services are enabled on your smartphone at all times. Nuki needs your location to determine if you are approaching your home. For this, Nuki also uses GPS and Bluetooth as well as the location data of Wi-Fi networks and cell towers.

Allow the Nuki App to use location data

The Nuki App needs permission to use location data from the operating system of your smartphone. If the Nuki App is not allowed to retrieve location data, the Auto Unlock cannot be used. You can check whether the Nuki App has the permission to receive location data in the device settings of your smartphone.

Bluetooth

Are you using a Smart Lock or Smart Door? For those devices Nuki performs Auto Unlock exclusively via Bluetooth. Thus we ensure that you are really close to your device when Nuki opens the door for you.
First, the operating system of your smartphone detects your position. Then, it informs the Nuki App when you are entering the Geofence. Now the Nuki App starts the Bluetooth scan for the device. As soon as a Bluetooth connection can be established, the app opens or unlocks your door.

Note: Auto Unlock for your Opener (Ring to Open) is not necessarily based on an active Bluetooth connection. Often the distance between the front door and the intercom is too far. Also, the Bluetooth range can be reduced by doors, walls and other interferences.

Improving the quality of Auto Unlock

Activate mobile data services

Location detection is improved and more accurate when you enable mobile data services.
You also need mobile data services to control your device remotely.

Activate Wi-Fi

Enabling Wi-Fi helps your smartphone to determine your location. It uses nearby Wi-Fi networks to do this - even if you are not currently connected to a network. Your smartphone recognizes the locations of the surrounding Wi-Fi networks. That way the Nuki App quickly receives information about changes of your location.

Deactivate battery optimizations

Make sure that battery optimizations are disabled for the Nuki App. Active battery optimizations are designed to minimize the power consumption of your smartphone. However, they cause the Nuki App to quit in the background and deny location queries and Bluetooth scans.

With enabled power saving settings, you might also have to wait a few seconds in front of your door until Auto Unlock unlocks automatically. To get around this, you can simply wake up your smartphone by pressing the smartphone's home or power button. Then Auto Unlock will work even faster.

Open the Nuki App

You should open the Nuki App from time to time. The system will then consider the application more important and send the location data faster.

Deactivate battery performance optimization (Android)

On Android devices you should deactivate the battery performance optimization for the Nuki App. This way, the Nuki App receives the location data from the operating system without delay.
Depending on the smartphone or the version of the operating system, after a system update certain power saving measures might become active again. Therefore it is worth checking this in the app settings of your smartphone every now and then.

Increase location accuracy (Android)

This mode provides a more accurate determination of the current location. The Nuki App stays active in the background, which significantly improves the location recognition.

Enable activity recognition (Android)

Android also detects whether you are currently in motion. This activity recognition makes it easier for Nuki to recognize whether you are entering or leaving the geofence.

Expert settings

With the Auto Unlock expert settings you can adjust the configuration of Auto Unlock to your individual needs and to your environment. Before changing these special settings, however, the feature should work properly with the default settings.

Have you already changed these settings and now Auto Unlock does not work as intended? Please reset them again and test Auto Unlock with the default settings for a few days.

Auto Unlock Status Screen

Within the Auto Unlock Status Screen in your Nuki App you can track the current state of Auto Unlock. It shows you if you entered or left the Geofence and if you are in Bluetooth reach.