August Smart Lock and Doorbell Cam updated with smarter auto-unlock and image preview alerts

The August Smart Lock product family is already one of the easiest smart security solutions for anyone to install, and today August announced several software features to improve the user experience as well. Changes include improvements to the Smart Lock, Smart Keypad, and Doorbell Cam.

Some of my favorite gear

Samsung X5 Thunderbolt SSD

Thunderbolt 3 delivers 40Gb/s for blazing fast data transfer. Pricing from $199.99.

August Smart Lock offers an optional feature called auto-unlock that uses location to unlock the deadbolt when you arrive within a set proximity. You don’t want to accidentally unlock your door, of course, so the August app sends alerts when auto-unlock is triggered.

Now August says those alerts will be more contextual:

New Auto-Unlock contextual alerts give users real-time updates such as when Auto-Unlock is triggered and actively communicating with the August Smart Lock.

Contextual alerts also let users know when they leave the “neighborhood,” setting Auto-Unlock to Away Mode. Users who already use Auto-Unlock can activate the new “You left your neighborhood” alerts in the August Smart Lock Settings menu.

If you use the August Smart Keypad as an optional entry method or lock method, new temporary and recurring codes will now be supported:

Some of my favorite gear

Samsung S90D OLED TVs (Save up to $1,900!)

Enjoy powerful brightness and rich contrast with OLED HDR+. Discover pure blacks, bright whites and Pantone-validated color with OLED Technology. Starting at $1,299, save up to $1,900 for a limited time only!

• Temporary entry code: A time-bound entry code that allows access for a specified time period and automatically expires.
• Recurring entry code: A weekly entry code that allows access for a specific time period that repeats weekly.
• Always On entry code: Works all the time until the Owner disables the entry code.

And Doorbell Cam users can now receive image preview alerts when the doorbell camera is activated:

New image preview alerts for August Doorbell Cam let users immediately see who is at the door to quickly determine if they want to answer the door for a visitor. On iOS, simply press and hold the expandable alert on the iPhone when a visitor presses the doorbell button or when motion is detected to see a snapshot of the activity outside the door.

You can get the latest August app update from the App Store. August Smart Lock ($229) (review), August Smart Keypad ($79), and August Doorbell Cam (review) are all in stock and shipping.

Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more smart home news!