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Hands-free entry: the door opens while your phone stays in your pocket

With GateStride, an enrolled phone stays in a pocket or bag. The door node at the entrance sees the phone, a radar sensor confirms a person is standing at the door, and the node unlocks through the access system you already run. No tap, no wave, no card.

By Tom Jin · Updated October 2026 · Early access

Cards and tap-to-open phones still make people stop at the door

Watch an office front door at 8:55 on a Monday. Someone has a coffee in one hand and a laptop bag on the other shoulder. They stop, put the coffee on the floor, dig for a card or unlock a phone, hold it at the reader, wait for the beep, pick the coffee back up and pull the door. The next person is already behind them, doing the same dance.

When I rented our office in Spring, Texas, the previous tenant had left a four-door Kantech system behind. Staff waved cards and phone wallets at the readers. It worked, but every entry was a small stop-and-fumble. Phone wallet badges help a little, because people carry their phone anyway, but they still need a tap at the reader, and they usually need new readers that support them. For an office that already owns working readers, that means buying hardware just to swap a card for a phone that you still have to take out.

We wanted the door to behave more like a car with a keyless fob: you walk up, it opens, and the phone never leaves your pocket.

What hands-free entry looks like at the door

An employee enrolls once in the GateStride Pass app on Android or iPhone. After that, there is nothing to open and nothing to hold up. They walk to a covered door with the phone in a pocket, a bag or a jacket. The door node recognizes the enrolled phone, checks that a person is actually standing at the door, checks that this person is allowed through this door at this time, and unlocks through the existing access system. The latch releases the same way it does for a card today.

A watch or a tablet can carry its own key as well, so someone who leaves the phone on the desk and walks out with a watch is still recognized.

How the door node knows you are there: Bluetooth plus radar

Each door node has Bluetooth receivers and a microwave radar presence sensor. Bluetooth handles the conversation with the phone. The node sends a one-time challenge, and the phone answers with a signature made by a private key that was created in the phone's secure element (StrongBox on Android, Secure Enclave on iPhone) and never leaves it. A copied answer cannot be replayed, because each challenge is used once.

Radar answers a different question: is a person physically at the door right now? It produces no images and cannot tell who someone is. The node unlocks when both answers line up: a valid phone and a person present. Without a person at the door, a valid phone answer is not enough. That pairing is the core of our relay protection. The radar presence page explains the sensor in detail.

Your existing readers, locks and cards stay in place

GateStride does not replace your readers or your panel. The door node calls the unlock that your access system already offers, so the lock, the strike, the request-to-exit sensor and the fire release all behave as they did before. Cards keep working for anyone who prefers them, for contractors, or for the day someone forgets a phone at home. If GateStride is down, the old system runs the doors exactly as before.

Free egress stays with your certified system. GateStride never requires anything to leave the building. When an enrolled phone does walk out, the node records the exit with no tap, which is what powers exit tracking and roll call. See how it works for the full architecture and compatibility for supported systems. GateStride is in early access and verified on Kantech EntraPass.

No cloud in the unlock path

The door node decides on the spot. The GateStride center in your comms room manages people, doors and schedules, but it is not in the real-time unlock path, and there is no GateStride cloud or relay server between the phone and the door. If your network or the center goes offline, the nodes keep verifying phones from a cached, signed credential set and resync when the connection returns. Details are on the security page.

From walking up to walking in

1. You walk toward a covered door. The GateStride Pass app is installed and enrolled, and the phone stays in your pocket or bag.
2. The door node's Bluetooth receivers pick up the enrolled phone and send it a one-time challenge. The phone signs it with a key held in its secure element.
3. The radar presence sensor confirms a person is physically at the door at that moment.
4. The node checks that you are allowed through this door at this time, then triggers the unlock through your existing access system.
5. The door unlocks, you walk in, and the entry is written to the tamper-evident audit log together with the presence reading.

What it does not do

• It does not replace your readers, panel or locks. It works through the access system you already have, and that system must be one we support.
• It does not change free egress. Leaving the building is still handled by your certified system, with nothing to tap.
• A person must be at the door with an enrolled phone, watch or tablet. Someone without a device uses a card or a visitor pass as usual.
• The center does not unlock doors on its own. Remote management runs over your own VPN, not over a GateStride cloud.

Questions

Do I have to open the app or unlock my phone to get in?

No. Once enrolled, the phone can stay locked in a pocket or bag. The door node talks to it over Bluetooth and radar confirms you are at the door.

Will the door open when I just walk past it inside the office?

The node needs a valid phone answer and a person present at the door, and it checks that you are allowed through that door at that time. Extra Bluetooth receivers help the node tell which side of the door a phone is on.

Do we need new readers for hands-free entry?

No. GateStride adds a door node next to the door and unlocks through your existing system. Your readers stay and keep accepting cards.

Can people still use their cards?

Yes. Cards, schedules and the rest of your access system keep working as before. GateStride adds phones alongside them.

What if someone's phone battery dies?

They use their card or their watch or tablet if it carries its own key, the same as any day they forget their phone.

Does this work with my access control system?

GateStride is in early access. Kantech EntraPass is verified, LenelS2 OnGuard and Brivo are in development, and Honeywell, Software House and HID are planned. Check the compatibility page or ask your integrator.

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