The Kwikset Kevo allows you to lock and unlock your door without the need for actual keys. However, what if you want others to have access to your house, especially family members? Here’s how to give “eKeys” to other household members, as well as guests.
RELATED: How to Install and Set Up the Kwikset Kevo Smart Lock
With the Kevo app, you can give unlimited access to family members that live under the same roof as you or provide a temporary 24-hour pass to a guest who might be staying the night. You can also give a key to someone like a contractor and set a schedule for when they can and can’t have access to your house.
Unfortunately, yes; the person you send an eKey to will need to download the Kevo app and create an account. There’s definitely some friction there, especially for those reluctant to download yet another app to their phone. However, the convenience of the Kevo lock itself makes it worth it.
To get started, open up the Kevo app and select your lock if it isn’t already.
From there, tap on the small key arrow button in the top-right corner of the screen.
You can either select from contacts that are on your phone, or enter in the email for the person you want to send the eKey to by tapping on the “Email” tab at the top.
Enter in their email and tap “Continue”.
Next, select either “Anytime”, “Scheduled”, or Guest”. Here’s a quick rundown of what each of these options mean:
Anytime: This gives unrestricted access to the user 24/7. Scheduled: This allows you to control which days and times that the user can and can’t unlock your door. Guest: This is similar to “Anytime”, but it only lasts for 24 hours.
If you select “Anytime”, you can also choose whether or not to make that user an admin, which will also give them the ability to create and manage eKeys.
After that, type in a short message if you’d like and then hit “Send eKey”.
Hit “OK” when the confirmation pop up appears.
If you go to the eKeys screen (the keys tab at the bottom), you’ll see that the sent eKey is currently pending until that user accepts the eKey on their phone.
When the user downloads the Kevo app and signs up for an account, they’ll see your eKey invite in the app.
Tapping on it will allow them to accept or reject your eKey.
Once they accept, you’ll receive a notification (if you have notifications enabled). Keep in mind that they’ll need to have Bluetooth on and at least have a data connection (if not Wi-Fi), as well as the Kevo app running in the background in order for the touch-to-open functionality to work. The app doesn’t have to be open, but it will need to remain in the app switcher for them to open the door.
