Latch App 4+

Okay- but has potential

My apartment building uses Latch exclusively vs keys. When I moved in a month ago the phone app was almost unusable. Most of the time long time connect left me standing outside or on an elevator that I couldn’t control.
The watch companion app was nearly infallible and I found it was the sole way for me to get around. Since I have a cellular watch I could leave my phone. I did have to turn off Applepay on my watch to use the app reliably but since I need to use it more than using my watch to pay it seemed an acceptable trade off.
Not sure if it was the most recent iOS update (minor one this week) but now the phone app works and the watch no longer does.
The watch app just says connecting and I have yet to get it to work now.
I would like to see something in the wallet app allowing me quicker access. The unlock time needs to be faster, especially for the elevators and watch app needs immediate improvement.

Needs improvement for Apt buildings

My apt building is new and completely outfitted with Latch on every entry and elevator. At first it was a fun piece of future tech, and I loved showing friends and family how we use our phones and watch to open the doors.
However, this was very short-lived as the Latch issues started creeping in almost immediately.
The number one issue is timing. It takes too long for the app to connect to the door mechanisms and if people are trying to go to an elevator floor, the timing window is missed probably 60% of the time and people end up having to ride up and down until the app connects. Same with waiting for the app to connect when my hands are full of groceries, with a dog, etc. it’s not reliable, and it happens to everyone in the building. It sounds like a first-world problem, but when it’s the only way to enter doors, it becomes a constant game of “can I get in this door or does someone need to help me?”

If this app had some sort of offline mode or a way to store personal doors or elevators as backup, it would improve the app performance immensely until the speed of Wi-Fi can catch up with the app. I wish it worked better- I love the idea. Sorry Latch.

Developer Response ,

Hi, we appreciate your feedback and are sorry to hear that you had a negative experience with our app. Our team is always working to improve and enhance the user experience. Can you please email us at support@latch.com with more details about your issues? Thank you for helping us improve.

Just not there yet

Cool concept but the technology really just isn’t there yet for this to be a convenient, reliable and seamless way of unlocking spaces. Extremely inconsistent, crazy latency, (every other day I’ll be standing in front of doors for 10 minutes quitting and restarting the app just for it to tell me I haven’t used that door before, which is untrue). In elevators, by the time I’m able to scan to unlock, the elevator has already gone past my floor, not to mention the frustration of needing to open the app and use it with hands full. It should be a tap and instant unlock without even having to open the app if the user can choose to grant access (so that I can leave my phone in my pocket and not have to fumble to find my phone and open the app and then wait again for unlock). Maybe I should be blaming my apartment for even installing these in elevators and many other spaces. I’ve noticed it does work better for Apple Watch users. I’m so frustrated that when I’ve had friends over I simply go and pick them up/let them out just so I don’t have to deal with granting permission using this app.