Lock level: as bad or worse than August, only in different ways

Cupertino, October 6, 2021

Sick of August and my door unlocked at random (sometimes due to a race condition between the August app and HomeKit, sometimes apparently on my own) and their awful support, I decided to try Level Touch. ** The hardware is really sleek and cleverly designed. ** That gave me such high hopes. Then I discovered that their applications / integrations are a waste of time. ** Installation is more involved than August, but still quite easy **. The level lock replaces both sides of the lock, unlike August. As a tenant, I was very happy to know that the level can be changed to match my original keys. My original shot plate had too narrow an opening for the level deadlock, but it was easy to replace. The installation of the hit plate provided at the level took 30 years. We had to put the latch channel in my door for the Level Screw arm module to lock. But that was also easy to do and lasted a minute or two with a flat-head screwdriver like a chisel. ** There are a surprising number of problems. ** 1. There is no way to see an activity log when you are away from home. There is no way to tell if the door has been left open (other than to get a third-party door sensor). 4. Locking and unlocking via HomeKit works, but it's slow as balls (worse than August), at least for me. Update: tried using the "increase range" setting and it's still pretty slow with HomeKit. 5. ** The Level application cannot be trusted to show you if the door is locked or unlocked **. WTF. Details on # 5. When remote, both the HomeKit and the Level app will work (when the lock is associated with the HomeKit hub). But if you use the Home app to lock / unlock, the Level app will never update the lock status. I live in an area where leaving your door unlocked is a great way to be robbed. I often forget to close my door and it can drive me crazy. I checked things at random this afternoon while working, and the Level app told me the door was unlocked. HomeKit said my door was locked. Of course, I thought HomeKit works. Not! ** Own level application ** does not do 1 of the 2 things it is good for. Amazing. Seriously, how can their app be so shitty after so long on the market ?! (Or really, how can any company sell a beta product without shame)? On the bright side, the Level app requires you to tap and hold to change the lock state. Unlike August's app, which allows you to lock / unlock your door by accidentally brushing the iPhone screen, despite years of requests to turn the button into a slider or something more infallible. I'm sorry, but the people who manage Level's products have to be taken to the forest. I can't believe these guys are supposed to be former Apple people. Clearly, none of them worked under Jobs when he was still a good man. Because Steve Jobs would have skinned these guys alive. On the other hand, he is very nice. edit: ** Also, the Touch functionality is pretty stupid **, as many have noticed. ** The ability to touch my lock when I leave works ** and it's pretty nice. But touching to unlock requires the introduction of a geographical fence around the house. Then, anyone can unlock your door during an adjustable time window between 1 and 5 minutes. In addition, ** geofence is not adjustable **. I go to work, which means I should let my latch down for at least 5 minutes. And, so unsure, that wouldn't even work for me, I usually walk home and even five minutes at night aren't long enough to make it from the perimeter of the geofence to my lock. ** I haven't tried the keys or mini keys, but that looks great **. Mini-cards are NFC tags in a small credit / card / thickness wallet, as one of those loyalty tags for your keychain). And it looks like you'll be able to use your phone as a cheycard for iOS 15. ** Edit ** neither of the two cheycards that came with my lock. They were programmed correctly, but the Level dock does not respond. Verified Support I use the cards correctly (and it's not rocket science!). ** Second edition ** The keys work well enough after deleting them and re-recording them after a lock reset (by removing the battery), but they are quite strange in terms of positioning.

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