If you're the forgetful type, you might want a backup plan in place if you somehow manage to lock yourself out of your apartment. Lockitron's Bolt, a smart lock that's been in the works for years, wants to be that plan. Lockitron originally created a mechanism that fit over your door's own deadbolt, locking and unlocking it with the help of an app — but this design proved troublesome, and they've spent the last two years reinventing it. The Bolt is their new product, a replacement deadbolt with a companion app for iOS and Android that lets you open your door with your phone if you lose your key — or vice versa.
It's $99, half what the prototype cost and comparable to other high-quality deadbolts. You can use it just for yourself as a key alternative (your own key should still work), or you can buy Lockitron's $50 Bridge WiFi adapter, which adds capabilities like remote unlocking, for letting in the likes of babysitters and building managers. The production model of the Bolt should ship in late spring, but you can pre-order it today.
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