Enabling Touch to Connect on your LOQED Touch Smart Lock will increase ease of use, but also comes with risks. In this article, we explain how to use the feature and provide guidance on how to mitigate potential security concerns.
Before understanding what Touch to Connect is, it is important to understand how Touch To Open works and what the difference is between these two. In short:
To use Touch to Open, you need to leave the lock radius (which is set to 500 meters by default) and then return home. When you approach your home, your phone will send a notification to the lock, prompting it to wake up from standby for 20 minutes. If your phone connects to the lock via Bluetooth during this time, the lock's display will turn on and show "Touch to Open". This allows you to unlock the door simply by touching the display.
With Touch to Connect, you can open the door with a touch while staying in close proximity to your home. This means that you can use the feature when you step out to do a quick chore like taking out the trash or visiting a neighbor, without having to leave the lock's 500-meter radius.
How does it work?
The display will not turn on automatically upon approaching your door.
You need to briefly touch the display once. It will show 'Connecting to Phone'.Your phone will connect to the lock.
While your display shows 'Connecting to Phone' it is available for your phone to connect to. Assuming your phone is on, has the LOQED app running in the background and all permissions are set correctly, it will connect to the lock. This will usually take less than 10 seconds.The lock will determine if the phone is outside.
The LOQED Touch Smart Lock uses a method to determine if your phone is outside by comparing the Bluetooth signal strength between the lock's outside and inside antennas with that of your phone. If the signal strength between your phone and the outside antenna is stronger than that between your phone and the inside antenna, the lock will recognize that your phone is outside and allow you to open the door with a touch.
🚨Important security information
While the inside/outside detection feature of the LOQED Touch Smart Lock is generally reliable, there are some rare scenarios where it could incorrectly detect that the phone is outside. It's important to be aware of this possibility and take appropriate measures to ensure the security of your home.
The lock may mistake you for being outside the house if the actual distance of your phone is closer to the outside of the door than to the inside of the door, even if you are physically inside the house. This could happen when you have a direct line of sight to the outside of your door while being inside the house.
To test this feature, you can place your phone in multiple locations within the house and then attempt to use the Touch to Connect feature by touching the display from outside the house. In this test, the door should not open. Make sure you have set an access code or have an alternative way of entering the house during this test.
LOQED is actively developing a feature that will allow users to manually adjust the accepted Bluetooth signal strength values, which will improve the lock's ability to calibrate itself and prevent the door from opening when the user is actually inside the house. This feature is projected to be released in the summer of 2024.
Enable MotionSense to make Touch to Connect more secure
To enable or disable MotionSense click:
Menu -> Account -> MotionSense
What is MotionSense?
MotionSense disables communication between your phone and the LOQED Touch Smart Lock while charging or if no motion is detected for 60 seconds. MotionSense minimizes accidental or unauthorized unlocks by activating the lock only when your phone is in motion. By minimizing unnecessary communication between your phone and the lock, MotionSense also helps conserve battery life on both devices.