August Home Reviews

by Nglan

Ive had the lock for a few weeks now. Before the release of iOS 14 the software side of the device worked fairly well. Since iOS 14 AugustHome (and Apple Watch app) are either broken, working poorly or just generally unreliable and buggy. For example pre iOS 14 if i pressed the unlock button on my Apple Watch the lock unlocked immediately. Now post iOS 14 Im lucky if the lock will unlock or lock at all on my watch, it usually takes at least 3 - 4 attempts - NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

Companies that make smart locks need to understand that they are making a commitment to maintain their software and that a smart lock without working software is USELSS not to mention bad for the planet.

As a developer who has also worked in the mobile realm I know that the reason for these problems is purely laziness and complacency on August Locks part. Developers are given versions of new OS months in advance to make sure the developers have time to ensure their apps work on OS launch day. NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

by Hogrider666

I don’t know what app or device all you 5 star raters are using; I doubt many of you even own an August lock. The one which we actually purchased and installed and this associated app are utter and complete trash. I have the lock set up exactly according to instructions, with good WiFi and strong Bluetooth signal, using the latest iOS and the newest iPhone (11 Pro Max). There is not a day which goes by when one or more of the features fails. One day it is auto-lock, another day auto-unlock, today the activity log won’t update so we can see if our housekeeper is at the house when she claims she is. Another day the internet control goes out. This device and app are, at best, a beta test of a deeply flawed product. We’ve owned this device about 10 days and have had no fewer than 5 service calls. These calls are all promises and zero action. They say they’re looking into it, but, trust me, they’re not. Unless you’re a glutton for punishment, ignore the paid-for glowing 5 star reviews and run, do not walk, from this product, which is on its way back.

by Wafao

My doorbell notification chimed and I answered. It was a delivery and when the call was done I hit the X, went back to the home screen on my phone, locked it, and place it on the coffee table. I went out front to pick up my package and I can hear my 6 year old singing along to his cartoons. I thought I was hearing things but it was clearly my child and the tv and it was coming from the doorbell cam. After securing my package, I ran and grabbed my phone. I went to the doorbell cam and started speaking with the still locked phone in my hand and I can hear myself.

This is a privacy concern and I wanted others to know that your microphone is still on even after going back to the home screen and locking your phone. Force quitting AugustHome seems to be the solution so far. I hope August implements a fix for this because I’m not okay with people being able to listen in on my family and I.

I’ve had the original doorbell cam when it first came out which has been replaced with the doorbell cam pro when that came out and the original smart lock which has been replaced by the 2nd gen smart lock for years now. This is the first time I’ve ever noticed the mic still transmitting even though the call was ended and the phone locked.

by Cruzman03

After doing months of research into smart locks and keypad locks, I decided that the August 3 generation smart lock was the one for us. So I invested a considerable amount of money on Theo whole lock system. I had a Dexter lock system installed in my home, and the installation guide on the August app said that my Dexter locks would be compatible with the third generation smart lock. I was so excited to get my August lock in the mail and install in my home, HOWEVER... I WAS EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED AND DISSATISFIED when I found out that I HAD BEEN LIED TO by the August installation guide. The smart lock is not compatible with the dexter lock system. I was further dissatisfied when the customer service agent told me that they could not send me out any other adapters to make the lock work with my current lock system. I had to buy a whole new lock system that was INFERIOR to the one that I had already installed in my home. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND TO A FRIEND because you can’t trust what the August company prints in their own app installation guide about compatibility.

by HäckMáte

Like most buyers of this product, I did my research and found that August was highly compatible with Apple, Google, and Alexa. I did not mind paying the premium because reliability and futureproofability was my main decision making force. The August worked perfectly with my apple watch and google home speakers and homekit. But my worst nightmare happened... it stopped working.

NO LONGER WORKS flawlessly with apple. I can no longer unlock with Siri or homekit. AFTER DAYS of troubleshooting and multiple calls to customer support, they simply said "why don't you just unlock your iphone, open AugustHome , and unlock it?". BECAUSE YOU STATE ON YOUR BOX THIS WORKS WITH HOMEKIT AND SIRI AND IT NO LONGER DOES! It was amazing that I could just raise my wrist and talk to my apple watch and say "unlock the door"

They don't know if it's their app, their hardware, or an iOS update, but they DO acknowledge the problem and are "very sorry for the inconvenience". I wasn't going to put this bad review, but I have waited 6 months for them to roll out an update or fix and they have yet to fix the issue. Other customers should do the same, hopefully they will listen and fix.

by RyanOShag

I’ve enjoyed AugustHome overall for the past couple years and the convenience that my smart lock provides. There are occasional connectivity issues, but they’re usually resolved by just retrying. I have had problems when using the lock/unlock widget on iPhone (outside of AugustHome ); I’d say it works about 70% of the time.

But I recently got a new iPhone 13, and since then I’ve been completely unable to log in to AugustHome . After spending an hour on the phone with support and resetting my password about 20 times, it still doesn’t work and support’s suggestion was (1) delete my account, create a new one with a different email address, and go through the setup process again, or (2) wait for this bug to be fixed. This is a pain, and since the phone’s been out for a month now I’d expect August to have either fixed the bug or communicated that it’s an ongoing issue (without requiring an hour of debugging with customer support first).

It’s a great product when it works, but now I’m left with nothing but a huge ugly deadbolt and a wasted afternoon.

by Lamarora

Have had this lock a few months. Originally when I installed it it broke my bolt in the door. I let August to know about the problem they did not seem to care and did not offer any compensation. Instead I had to buy a brand new bolt. A few months later after changing the batteries we kept getting critical low battery alerts that seemed false because we just changed to new batteries. We are worried that we are having a problem with critical battery drain and don’t want to get locked out. When we reached out to August they gave us a blanket response and none of their suggestions have resolved the problem. They also suggest to delete AugustHome redownload, and now it won’t download at all,yet I’m able to download other apps. Very buggy! I don’t have hope we will be able to resolve our problems and I have a feeling going through the warranty process is going to be another pain given the poor customer service experience we’ve had so far. For such a costly lock, I would expect more from a company.

by Zachtheman29

I have been looking at different locks for a while now. I recently decided to pay much more than I would normally for this lock because of the benefits it has. But now that I have purchased it, those benefits rarely work. The unlock hasn’t worked most of the time when returning home but would probably be fine if I could adjust the location setting. But unfortunately you can’t change the range. It would also be nice to be able to lock when I leave the house but you can’t do that. Only lock on a timer after the door is shut, which is just begging to lock me or my family outside, which has happened. Also AugustHome is supposed to tell you when the door is locked or unlocked, which it does... but most of the time it alerts me it’s been unlocked roughly 20 mins after it’s been unlocked. I was counting on this perk since I have toddlers who are opening the door but they would be long gone before I noticed from the alerts. It just seems like there’s lots of things that need fixed software wise.

by Applenutpro

This would be such a wonderful system if it could function reliably. Every now and again, I update AugustHome and I can no longer get into the house. It often happens when I'm away for a longer period of time and if I update my app while I'm away. It also happens when I update at home. It's very inconvenient to have to have to worry if I can get into the house or not. I just have to carry a physical key around anymore. Most frustrating! Honestly expect more out of a system that I paid around $200 for.

The help is also kind of dumb to be honest and annoying. Asks you are you trying to connect the door .. well of course I am! Am I standing in front of the door ... well of course I am! The pop ups come up are not useful at all and just slow down the whole process of really connecting to the door lock.

I’m always afraid of updating to the next version in case I cannot get into the house after an update. I will only dare to update if I have the keys in hand

by Dmattk89

Widget has been broken for quite some time now. The widget made it easier for me to unlock my doors. I have a storm door on my main front door that I also have lock with an August lock for extra security. August will joy allow me to set up both to Auto Unlock since they are on the same home. I understand why this might be a feature as many people might have multiple locks on different entries and don’t want to unlock all the doors in your house at once, however, many people probably have multiple deadbolts on their main entry like I do. There should be a way to set up so I can chose to have both auto unlock. I have been using the keypad with my storm door deadbolt and have my actual door set to Auto Unlock while I am entering my pin, however the lock doesn’t always respond to my entry on the keypad and I end up getting out my phone. Not having access to the widget has made this more difficult.

by Mike 164

I really like my August Smart Lock Pro but find limited practicality with the auto lock feature. It locks my door automatically when closed for a set amount of time (or instantly if I so choose.) While this would seem beneficial in making sure I don't forget or when my hands are full, why would I want to risk being locked out when I simply walk outside for a minute? It would be more practical if I could set it for perhaps an hour or so, in case I forget to lock it when going out for the day, but the maximum setting is only a few minutes. It would, also, be nice to be able to coordinate the function with the auto unlock, since it would seem logical that if I wanted my door to unlock automatically when returning to my home I might want it to lock automatically when leaving it. I had the idea of enabling auto lock when I was in for the evening so that my door wouldn't remain unlocked all night and wouldn't have to lock it behind me when I left in the morning. Unfortunately, when I returned from work the first day, I waited too long to enter my house after the door auto unlocked and it auto locked, again, forcing me to get out my phone to unlock it. Now, if I want to use it that way, I have to rush to get inside before it locks. (Another problem that could be mitigated with longer time settings.)

by DESMO1198s

I use AugustHome all the time when I head out and I’m not the one driving so I get to leave my keys at home. Normally when I get home I pull out my phone just long press (force touch on older iPhones) the lock / unlock option appears I choose unlock and I’m in. Now every time I do the long press, I get just the standard 3 options (Remove app, share app & edit Home Screen) Now more quick Lock and Unlock , could this be iOS 14? Just before 14 was released I also noticed that matter what I select lock or unlock; the lock responds correctly but not the whole app opens up and has to be manually closed. In other words it’s now faster to open AugustHome , choose your house then send the lock command you want. And we all know it’s pretty dumb to have to select your house first before getting to command you lock when you might only have one lock in one house... August, please quit... We don’t need the extra steps to something as simple as. Lock or Unlock. Especially if we only have one lock.... For the record when I got my lock Alamo a year ago everything worked great exactly as advertised and I recommended the lock to friends and family. It could truly be a great lock again if they fix AugustHome .

by B Ill

I really like the August Bluetooth lock. Being able to get in when I forget my keys is great. (Although, I still bring keys just in case.) A couple of things would make it better. (1) From what I read, I expected the lock to support HomeKit and it does not. In absence of full support, I would love to be able to ask Siri to unlock the door. This is worth a star rating to me since I expected that I could. (2) Needs faster unlock from the iPhone widget. It just takes too long for the lock to be discovered and unlock. (3) it would be nice to have an Apple Watch complication whose sole job is to unlock the door. ( my original Apple Watch is slow to open its August app). (4) AugustHome should notify me ahead of time that a lock update is available and allow me to choose whether to install it. This has trapped me waiting at the door for an update when I’m trying to leave the house. (5) the Auto Unlock triggers too far away. This would be more useful to me if it unlocks as I am very close to the door. (Like 3-5 feet). Presently, it will trigger when I am three floors below the apartment door.

by Jb3401

a recent app update introduced an automatic selection of wifi vs bluetooth when connecting to a lock; that significantly slows down unlocking, to the point where i have had to pull the wifi bridges on any locks i want to access fast; the way i use august — as i walk toward one of my ten doors equipped with august locks, i issue an unlock command from the iphone control center; this used to work amazingly well with bluetooth as it would connect and unlock by the time i have managed to walk up to the door; with the recent autoselection it tries wifi first, which is slow, then as i am very near the door it connects to it with bluetooth, and entirely and completely forgets to issue the unlock command which i had tapped from control center, so now i have to tap again; feels so clunky and slow, and so much worse than how it worked before this “feature” was introduced

in general with August in my 3 years of ownership of v1 and v3 locks, and continues daily use of AugustHome , I see such awful design decisions and so much time before they decide to backtrack... for crying out loud, you just had it working perfectly for a few months, how about quick making these half baked changes while you are ahead, or at least let us opt out or may be provide feedback to you prerelease because clearly you don’t get how some of us use your products

by Sharoi

I wish I could give AugustHome a 4.9 star review as it is ALMOST perfect for our family’s needs.

I’ve owned this lock and have been using AugustHome for almost two years now. During this time I’ve lost my “door sense” sensor and while I was unable to find a replacement online, a short and easy call to the support team resulted in them shipping a replacement overnight free of charge.

My “Connect” device also maul functioned 3 months after we 1-year warranty expired. Once again I was shipped a replacement free of charge! The company stands behind its product!

The only 2 things I’d wish to change in AugustHome are:
1) the ability to customize a user’s permission. At this point a user is either a “guest” with very limited functionality or an “owner” with full control. It would be great to allow my kids the ability to open the door automatically as they approach with their phone while limiting their ability to add users, change settings, etc.

2) the “Auto Unlock” function’s radius around my house is a bit large for us. I often find my self at a neighbor’s house or walking the dog and still show “at home” on AugustHome .

I would recommend this lock to anyone who’s thinking about easy entry!

by Chooseup

I purchased the August Pro expecting that this lock would open as I approach the door. It rarely opens the lock as expected. Maybe two times since Jan 2018. Upon calling tech support, and after I gave him the problem and use scenario, his questions centered on other Bluetooth devices that are on or around me when I expect the door to unlock. Let’s see, Apple iPhone X, Apple watch, and Apple AirPods. Then he immediately focused in on the AirPods. The technician said to me that the August Pro does NOT work well with Apple AirPods and it is a known “issue”. I asked “known to whom??”, known to August apparently but no one else knows that would be involved in the presale process it seems. If the BestBuy rep told me about this problem, I simply would not have purchased it. I lay responsibility for this “known” problem squarely on August and the lack of communication to its resellers about this problem so that consumers can be warned BEFORE a purchase is made. Very irresponsible!! So after all the time, effort and energy with this electronic yet manual lock, I will remove and return it. The funny thing is that Bluetooth wireless communication has an industry standard well established so that manufacture’s can develop products that will smoothly integrate and work with (reject) other Bluetooth devices within 30ft. How did August design such an inept system using Bluetooth??

by CRElash

We got this lock and bridge about 9 months ago. It was pretty simple to set up. We love not having to worry about a key and being able to unlock the door remotely if we need to let people in. About a month ago, we had to replace our door. The installer had a different brand lock and said that we needed a different plastic adapter piece. I had a email response from the company in less than an hour. All they needed from me was an address to ship the pieces to. I had my replacement adapters within 2 days. AugustHome is super easy to use. We’ve run into some complications when attempting to share. I think those were more “user end issues”. Ultimately, we got it working properly. It makes it easy to let family in to drop things off. We really just love it.

by Celtic*Angel

I had a different smart lock from another company before. Could not get it to work right. Almost gave up on having a smart lock! Did some research and found this gem. I have no issues locking and unlocking my door. It’s fairly seamless. I LOVE that I can unlock and lock the door from anywhere, see who unlocked it last, and all the other activity, and I can set it up for an airBnB if we ever go that route. My favorite part is that it unlocks as I drive up and walk up to my door. SO NICE. And unlike my last lock, it will connect to multiple phones seamlessly.

Only thing I’d like to fix is the time based locking mechanism to a location based. I don’t want to get locked out of my house by accident if I puts around the yard for longer than the time allotted without my phone or key.

by TravelerSy

Let me start off by saying I’ve only had the August installed for a couple of weeks and typically, I would use something for a couple months before writing a review.

Also, originally I was going to deduct a star cause it’s not WiFi enabled without a separate WiFi bridge which you have to buy (and based on the reviews the bridge isn’t great and a lot of people have issues with it so I didn’t get it), but after using it for a couple weeks I honestly don’t miss it.

Simply put, this thing has been awesome and has really made a positive impact on my life!

The software works very well and having the home/Away feature enabled on my phone makes the WiFi feature completely irrelevant for me (though if you do airBnB or have to open the door remotely when not at the house it would be critical).

Since I am not AirBnBing right now, it does exactly what I need, including open the door when I pull up in my driveway without me having to press the button on my phone.

Also, get the August Widget on iOS, it decreases the number of clicks and time it takes to get to AugustHome when opening and closing the door.

Also, I installed it for my mother in law who doesn’t do well with technology and she loves it and has had no problems with it either.

by Amazingcolamaya

AugustHome is awesome sometimes we forgot the keg to our home and we would have to wait outside but now with AugustHome it’s like never a problem and I just bring the key just in case sometimes. Another reason why I got it was because my key was connected to my backpack and when I went to go and twist it up to take the key out but it was just hard but I still did it. It is definitely worth it and it works amazingly and I definitely recommend it to you guys that are locked out or need something easier. AugustHome is the best and you should really get it. Sorry if this review is to long but it is worth it. You won’t regret your purchase one bit and wherever you are you can unlock your door. You can even give people a time limit to unlock your home for if your babysitting or something and when there time is up there app shuts off. It awesome 👏 😎 . Thanks for reading this goodbye now and hope you made the right choice weather you bought it or not and I’m am not making you but it. 👋 bye.

by Kirstypie99

AugustHome is absolutely horrendous. From trying to log in, it already acts glitchy. And it doesn’t stop there. I basically cant accomplish anything within AugustHome. When I try to edit a user, and hit save, it kicks me out and makes me log back in, but hasn’t saved anything. When trying to log in, it presents my phone number to me, but when I click on the phone number, it won’t use it. So I have to manually type my phone number. If you’re lucky enough that it has saved a change that you’ve made and it didn’t kick you out completely, AugustHome freezes and won’t allow you to do anything else. So nearly as bad as being kicked out.
Also, you can’t manage users remotely, you have to be in range and connected to the device. That was a huge reason that I bought this, to manage and monitor users while I’m at work. If it doesn’t give me that capability, I basically spent a bunch of money I didn’t need to and should have gone with a non-smart lock. I’m pretty sure I’ll be returning this.

by Nusr

I’ve had the smart lock pro 3rd gen for a couple of years or so, and it started reasonably well. However, about a year ago, it started delivering notifications about the door having been opened or closed about 30 seconds to 3 minutes too late - it was rather annoying knowing that if anyone had broken into my home, I wouldn’t know about any door opening until about 3 minutes later when the thieves would have likely grabbed what they wanted and ran.

I complained to company support, whose genius advise was just to delete and reinstall AugustHome , and/or log out and back in - what??? Really??? You can’t control your own product? Thanks god other products don’t have this inefficiency built in or people would die.

Now the latest is that batteries only last 6-8 weeks tops (I use energizer only as they are the best - they come with 1.6 volts and at 1.0 volts, the door locks says battery are only 20% left, but best of all, if you don’t change them right away, about 8-12 days later the lock will STOP OPENING LEAVING YOU LOCKED OUT OF YOUR OWN HOME - it will refuse to open at this point - ohhhh!! But it will close, so there’s obviously enough power left.

This product is so frustrating - no wonder their original door bell was a disaster - I purchased it along with the RING DOOR BELL PRO, and August’s was a joke vs RING’s. The door bell would ring but would not capture whoever pressed it - what???? Yes this is August.

by Manic Gamer

I have many issues with the system. #1 if you loose the supplied Allen key then good luck finding the right one as it is not a standard size. You cannot buy any at homedepot or any normal store. #2 why ohh why can I not change the WiFi in in AugustHome . Instead prepare Tony mount all the work you did to set it up just to reset the device and reconnect.

#3 and the biggest complaint, it has a terrible WiFi chip in it. Only works within 5ft of the doorbell. Had to spend an extra $150 just to get a WiFi bridge placed three feet away and it still disconnects from the WiFi. Seriously come on use better hardware something reliable. Or better yet when you buy the door lock with it you still have to have the home connect for the doorbell. And the WiFi in the connect is great but does not bridge with the doorbell. Man what crappy engineering. As a designer I would never come up with a device this bad.

Now when it works it is great. But when it works.

by Bdimitrov

a recent app update introduced an automatic selection of wifi vs bluetooth when connecting to a lock; that significantly slows down unlocking, to the point where i have had to pull the wifi bridges on any locks i want to access fast; the way i use august — as i walk toward one of my ten doors equipped with august locks, i issue an unlock command from the iphone control center; this used to work amazingly well with bluetooth as it would connect and unlock by the time i have managed to walk up to the door; with the recent autoselection it tries wifi first, which is slow, then as i am very near the door it connects to it with bluetooth, and entirely and completely forgets to issue the unlock command which i had tapped from control center, so now i have to tap again; feels so clunky and slow, and so much worse than how it worked before this “feature” was introduced

in general with August in my 3 years of ownership of v1 and v3 locks, and continues daily use of AugustHome , I see such awful design decisions and so much time before they decide to backtrack... for crying out loud, you just had it working perfectly for a few months, how about quick making these half baked changes while you are ahead, or at least let us opt out or may be provide feedback to you prerelease because clearly you don’t get how some of us use your products

by T-Payne1

AugustHome is easy to use and the step by step instructions are easy to follow. I like being able to remotely check if my door is locked. It also tells me what time the door was opened or closed and who did it. I like being able to send a friend an invite to access the door or you can open remotely for them. Don’t have to worry about memorizing codes.
My most favorite function is the automatic open or lock function. I just have to have my phone on me and the door unlocks. You have to be careful about going outside. It detects me leaving, I think from my Apple Watch, and then locked the door even though I didn’t have my phone on me. If you don’t have a spare key hidden somewhere, you might lock yourself out unless you buy the keypad.

by JA4lyf

I'm so happy that you guys got the location based unlocking right. At first, it was kind of some timey. Now, it recognizes when I've left my neighborhood and will unlock upon return. I used to take my dog for a walkgreat , I would walk 20 minutes away from my house. Upon my return the door would not unlock for me, so I would have to take out my phone and manually unlock it. You guys still have some bugs to work out. For instance, when I would close out AugustHome or restart the phone... the door would not unlock for me when arriving at my house. It never used to do that. Anyway, I've been grateful for this product even with the bugs. Thank you, August Team!