Smart entry options: 1) Yale w/ SmartThings & rboyapps vs. 2) Nest x Yale

[Jes4981]

Curious after digging in your thoughts on the pros and cons of these two options for smart entry.

Seems main advantage of option 1 > 2 is use of rboyapps’ Rental Lock Automater app, along with their other apps. I see this can auto generate codes from phone #s and can integrate with other third-party tools and calendars, i.e. Guesty, so on. Otherwise, the apps seem relatively comparable.

Curious what you would do if setting up a new system from scratch. Interested in optimizing for my time to manage remotely & for smooth user experience. Thanks!

Option 1:

Aeotec Smart Home Hub for SmartThings w/

Yale Assure Lock Touchscreen with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth or 

Yale Assure Lock SL with Wi-FI and Bluetooth w/

Compatible w/ rboyapps for customization & automated workflows

Option 2:

Nest x Yale Lock w/

Nest Connect (included)

Manage in one app w/ Nest thermostat, doorbell, so on (if have these)

Not compatible with rboyapps

[Sarah977]

@Jes4981  I know nothing about smart locks, but just be aware that you can't use one that requires guests to download a third party app to access the code. 

It  is against Airbnb policy to be :

• "Asking guests to install a third-party app to access a listing; all listings on Airbnb should be accessible to a guest without requiring they have another app or account".

[Jes4981]

Thank you @Sarah977. Makes sense on airbnb policy. These align as guests access entry codes within the airbnb app. Both options offer host apps to manage the systems on the backend.

[Mark4089]

Both options seem a bit complicated for simple entry control.  We use Schlage Encode WiFi locks on all of our rentals and manage them with Remotelock.  Remotelock has Airbnb integration available. Once you enable Airbnb in Remotelock, when a guest makes a reservation Remotelock creates a code for the time period of the reservation, updates the lock, and sends the Airbnb guest a message with the door code information. The cost of Remotelock is well worth the time saved having to keep up with updating codes on multiple locks.

[Jes4981]

@Mark4089 Great to keep it simple. I will look into remotelock & their pricing. Thank you!

[Doug147]

We use the option 1 set-up, Rboy+Smarthings+Yale. We have been on it for 3 years. 

We like the fact that none of these have a monthly cost, just a one-time fee per property of $99. It may not be as simple as remote lock, but we do use the Smartthings integration to set the thermostats and lighting based on occupancy.

We also set codes for cleaners, which turns on all the lights and lowers the temp to one the the cleaner prefers. 

For us, the smart home integration is the reason we went that way.

[Yuki-and-Charlie0]

Have you found a solution with the new system coming in December 31st or who knows what.

I’ve spent thousands of dollars on Rboys apps and I’ve been with them for nearly 5 years at nearly 3 dozen properties.

Now, can’t install the apps anymore and the future is uncertain support wise. I mean it’s already essentially useless. 

very disappointed. Now I have a bunch of z wave locks and smartthings hubs with not coded integration.I’m forced to use this joke of a simple app in the meantime. But it’s completely pointless. Like the whole point was the automation. 

[Susan3477]

We are in the same boat, but our boat is not nearly as large as yours.  We have one property and even though we live on-site have used Rboy with Yale Assure and SmartThings with zero problems for over three years.  Since SmartThings changed APIs from Groovy to Edge, Rboy has been dead in the water and the company has been virtually silent on if or when they will be releasing a new version compatible with the Edge API.  Looking at the Yale Access app now since it's also free, but it sounds like there are some issues with flexibility around messaging and codes.

[Greg2640]

It's really too bad that Rboy went by the wayside -- we waited for a long time and then decided to build a solution to help other hosts like us. If you're looking for very similar functionality as Rboy at an affordable rate you should check it out: https://www.rentalhomeautomator.com/articles/the-ideal-rboy-apps-rla-replacement/

[Greg2640]

The setup with rboy apps was a great setup back when you posted this, but as many of you know they shut down their smart apps in 2023 when SmartThings migrated their platform so none of their apps work for short-term rental applications now.

I suggest that you don't just think about smart entry, but also the other things you can do around your property with smart devices - namely turn the water on/off and adjust temperatures for occupancy and vacancy. I recently wrote an article on the best smart home devices for your Airbnb which you can read for some suggestions. https://www.rentalhomeautomator.com/articles/the-best-smart-home-devices-for-your-airbnb/