Google Home Adds Matter and Aliro Digital Key Support
Your Android phone is about to become a house key. Google has added support for Matter and Aliro-compatible residential digital keys to Google Home, letting owners of compatible smart locks add a house key to Google Wallet. The change arrived with Google Play services v26.44, released on November 9, 2026.
It is a small line in Google’s monthly system release notes, but it fills one of the last gaps in the smart home’s move toward open standards. Until now, digital house keys have been fragmented: Samsung Wallet has its own Digital Home Key, Apple Wallet has Home Key, and each worked only with locks built for that ecosystem. Aliro is the Connectivity Standards Alliance’s attempt to end that split, and Google’s update brings the standard to Android phones.
What Google Actually Shipped
Google’s official System Release Notes for Google Play services v26.44 (2026-11-09) include a single entry under Wallet: “[Phone] You can now add Matter Aliro-compatible single-family residential keys to Google Wallet with Google Home.”
In practice, that means a compatible smart lock can be set up through the Google Home app, and the resulting digital key is stored in Google Wallet on the phone. The phone then unlocks the door, much as a Wallet transit card opens a gate or a Wallet car key starts a vehicle.
The same update also adds Traveler QR support to Google Wallet and ships alongside Google Play Store v54.0. But the digital key entry is the one that matters for the smart home.
Google has not named any specific lock models that work with the feature, and the release notes do not list compatible hardware. The wording limits the feature to single-family residential keys, so apartment buildings and offices are not covered yet.
What Aliro Is, and Why It Matters
Aliro is the digital key standard from the Connectivity Standards Alliance, the same group behind Matter. Its 1.0 specification was published earlier in 2026. Where Matter standardizes how smart home devices talk to each other, Aliro standardizes how a phone, watch, or other device proves it is allowed to open a lock.
The idea is simple: a lock should not care which company’s phone is tapping it. A lock that supports Aliro can accept a digital key from any compatible wallet, just as a Matter lock can be controlled from any Matter-compatible platform. Samsung has already launched an Aliro-based Digital Home Key for Samsung Wallet, and Apple backs the standard as well. Google’s update completes the set, putting all three major phone platforms behind the same key format.
That matters because locks are the one smart home device where being locked into a single ecosystem hurts most. A light bulb that only works with one platform is an annoyance. A door lock that only works with one family’s phones is a reason not to buy it at all. Aliro is meant to remove that objection.
Timing and Availability
Google’s notes carry the usual caveat: a feature appearing in the changelog does not mean it is widely available. Google rolls Play services updates out in phases, and the company says it can take weeks or months for a listed feature to reach every phone. So even if your phone is on Play services v26.44, the digital key option may not show up in Google Home right away.
Compatible locks are the other half of the equation. Aliro support has to be built into the lock itself, and lock makers will need to ship firmware or new models that speak the standard. Google has given no timeline for when the first Aliro locks will appear in stores, and no lock maker has yet announced a model tied to this update.
Why This Fits a Bigger Pattern
The update lands at a moment when the smart home’s standards story is accelerating. Matter is now built into nearly a third of smart home products, according to figures reported earlier this month, and IKEA launched 21 Matter products in a single day last week. Apple and Amazon both shipped new home hubs this fall that act as Matter controllers and Thread border routers.
At the same time, the old cloud-to-cloud model is visibly fraying. Hunter Fan Company announced it will shut down the cloud link connecting its HunterSMART ceiling fans to Google Home and Alexa on January 1, 2027, leaving Matter as the only path forward for those fans, with no date set for the replacement firmware. The message to manufacturers is getting hard to miss: proprietary cloud integrations can be switched off, while standards-based connections survive.
Aliro extends that logic from device control to access. If it works as designed, the next smart lock you buy will not ask which phone you own before it lets you in.
What to Do Now
For most households, the honest answer is: nothing yet. Check that Google Play services is up to date, and look for the key option in Google Home if you already own a Matter-compatible lock. But do not buy a lock on the strength of this update alone until a manufacturer confirms Aliro support for a specific model.
If you are shopping for a smart lock this holiday season, Aliro support is now a question worth asking alongside Matter certification. A lock that supports both standards is the one most likely to still work with whatever phone your household is using five years from now.
Google’s November 9 update does not put a digital key in anyone’s hand today. It puts the plumbing in place so that, when the locks arrive, the key will already work.