Open a door from your phone

The app exists for the twenty seconds you’re standing at a door with somebody waiting behind you. Everything else it does, a computer does too. This it does on its own.

Getting the app

UnitBook is on Google Play for Android and the App Store for iPhone.

Sign in with the same details you use on the web. Your firm and your listings are already there.

Two kinds of door

Open a listing in the app and it tells you which one you’re at.

The unit has	You get
A UnitBook lockbox	A key on your phone. Tap to open, standing next to the lockbox
Just an access note	Show access code, which checks the key out to you

You don’t have to choose. If there’s a lockbox, that’s what you get.

Opening a lockbox

Your key arrives when your firm is given access to the units. You don’t ask for one each time.

At the door, tap unlock. Your phone talks to the lockbox directly, so you have to be standing next to it. There’s no way to open a door remotely, and that’s on purpose.

When it won’t open

What you see	What to do
A message about Bluetooth being off	Turn Bluetooth on in your phone’s settings
A message asking for permission	Allow it in your phone’s settings. On Android it may be called “nearby devices”
A message about needing a newer app	Update the app. Ask your manager for a keypad code in the meantime
Nothing happens at all	The batteries are probably flat. Your manager can see that and send you a temporary code

If there’s no key showing for you at all, your firm may not have been given access to that company’s units. That’s a call to your office, not something to fix at the door.

Checking a key out

On a unit with no lockbox, Show access code shows you the code and checks the key out to you. You’ll see how long you’ve got.

When you’re done, put the key back, tap Confirm return, and take a photo of the key in the box.

If the key wasn’t there in the first place, tap I never took the key. That isn’t a return: it tells your office the key is missing, and it stops the clock running against you.

You can tap Show access code as often as you like. It’s the same code and the same deadline.

If a colleague at your firm already has the key, you’ll see that before you set off.

For managers

Management companies get an Access tab in the app: the same lockbox list as the website, sized for a phone. You can see who’s able to open a lockbox, and create a temporary code for a contractor standing outside right now.

Remember that a keypad code can’t be canceled once you’ve sent it. It can only run out.