The August Lock is one of my favorite HomeKit devices I own, so when I came across the Yale Smart Cabinet Lock, it was something I was immediately curious to try to see how it worked with HomeKit, as I’ve not used an indoor lock before.
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Where the August Lock is a great device for securing the outside of your home, the Yale Smart Cabinet Lock is meant for securing cabinets in your home. What kind of cabinets could you use this for? Well, depending on your home setup, it could be useful to secure a liquor cabinet, medicine cabinet, personal documents, cleaning supplies, or anything you want to keep somewhat secure in your home.
If you’re familiar with the August Lock app, you’ll be familiar with the Yale Access App. It looks very similar. You can use the August app to control all of your Yale products as well. The integration means it’s going to be a natural extension of your August experience. If you’re comfortable using the August app for your door, then you’ll enjoy the same experience with the Yale Smart Cabinet Lock.
Installation of the Yale Smart Cabinet Lock is straightforward, but it’ll require following the instructions pretty closely for it to work correctly. You’ll need to have a Phillips screwdriver to completely install it into your cabinet, and Yale has put a nice video together showing the entire process.
Thankfully, the screws are on the small side, so if you end up removing the Yale Smart Cabinet Lock in the future, the holes will be pretty easy to fill. Since they’re on the inside part of the cabinet, you might get away with not repairing them as well.
Yale Smart Cabinet Lock with HomeKit
Like the August Lock, you can add the Yale Smart Cabinet Lock to HomeKit as well. You’ll be able to lock and unlock it using the Home app, similar to how you do the August Lock. If you put it on your liquor cabinet, you could build a HomeKit automation to automatically unlock it based on when the parents are home, etc.
Bluetooth vs. Wi-Fi
Similar to the August Lock, you have the option of buying a Bluetooth-only package, or one with the Wi-Fi Bridge. If you’re using HomeKit, you technically don’t have to use the Bridge. I like having it so I don’t have to worry about connecting with Bluetooth if HomeKit is being a bit flaky for some reason. The Connect Bridge is required for Google Home and Amazon Alexa as well.
Wrap-up
The Yale Smart Cabinet Lock is a super-simple device. It’ll take you around 20 minutes to install, and it’ll keep a cabinet perfectly secure. If you have teenagers at home for periods by themselves, it’s the perfect way to secure your liquor cabinet or medicine cabinet and keep track of when (and who) last opened it.
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