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Apple Preparing to Add Support for Digital Car Keys on Volvo, Polestar, and Audi Vehicles
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I sure do. Your question should be, why should consumer care what the differences are? The fact is Tesla had implemented this solution 10 years ago, but others haven't and still relied on Apple to implement device specific solution. Older phones won't have this feature either. So again, your question should be, why could Tesla do this 10 yeas ago and other manufactures couldn't even after all these years? Incompetence? I think so.
This sounds incredibly convenient and I'm still left wondering whether I'm just removing redundancy from my life.
I often leave the house without my wallet and part of me is worried that not only would I struggle to call anyone if my phone died or I lost it, also I wouldn't be able to pay for anything because it's all Apple Pay. Now I might also be stranded and locked out of my car and in the future potentially my house.
I often leave the house without my wallet and part of me is worried that not only would I struggle to call anyone if my phone died or I lost it, also I wouldn't be able to pay for anything because it's all Apple Pay. Now I might also be stranded and locked out of my car and in the future potentially my house.
When people stared carrying their wallets in the front pockets. Now you have a "slim" wallet, keys, a cleaning cloth, a chapstick, etc. all in one pocket and your phone in the other. If we could just slim down the FOB, I would be happy. Why do they need watch batteries? Just make it a smaller, rechargeable thing. We are already putting charging pads and USB ports in every car.
The original Tesla Model S and Model X had traditional key fobs, and didn't support Bluetooth/UWB phone keys (you could still unlock the car through the app, of course, but that worked through the mobile phone network or wifi).
But since the first Model 3, Teslas shipped only with the NFC keycards, making your phone the primary key. The Model 3 and Y are >95% of all Teslas ever sold at this point, so the vast majority of Teslas out there today use phone keys as the primary means of accessing the vehicle.
You don't need a fob. Just do what Tesla did and make an NFC keycard that fits in your wallet and has no battery. Your phone/watch is the primary key, and the card in your wallet is the emergency backup.
My Mini 2024 has this NFC keycard and and fob, so 4 ways to access when you include the Mini app and digital wallet 😀
So just pick the combination that suits
Losing a key in the lake because it was my responsibility is better than my car malfunctioning because some code writer pushed a buggy app update to my key
The 3/Y do have a fob you can buy (I think it is 175 dollars). The fob uses BT/NFC (or at least last time I looked it did). I thought the S/X still come with a fob, but I can't find anything to confirm. The CT doesn't have a fob option at all.
Some (older) cars can only do NFC, most newer cars can use UWB so you don't need to take the phone out of your pocket and hold it to a NFC reader if you have a proper UWB implementation.
That is exactly WHY the manufacturers should support Apple CarKey with UWB, so that it actually works and is convenient and reliable.
It's not Apple CarKey, but yes they have one of the more reliable app&bluetooth based implementations. But since it's not Apple CarKey, you can't use the Watch as key!
Unlikely, the car needs NFC readers and very preferably a UWB radio module. The e-tron 2020 certainly does not have the latter. And even if it has some NFC hardware, VW/Audi is not exactly known for caring about software updates in older cars. Extremely unlikely to be available as a SW update except for cars where that was already worked on in the planning phase but just wasn't ready for the release date.
Correct, but this is a BMW naming convention, not a CarKey name. For Kia/Hyundai/Genesis the UWB CarKey support is named "Digital Key 2", just as another example.
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I was surprised my new MINI supported this and it's soo convenient. It can tell how far away I am from the car so it only lights up when I'm about 1m away and then eventually unlocks when I'm right by the car.
Also nice not having to carry the car key around.
People complain saying it's not secure, but I'd trust the security on my iphone over the manufacturer keyless entry anytime. If someone stole my phone that's no different to them stealing your car key so it's not more or less secure in that way anyway. I've shared my key with my partner / parents just in case they ever need to gain entry to it (or if I did lose my phone or something).
It works with lag, delay or the need to have an app open. The standard way to do it in the Mini app is SO slow in comparison.
Also nice not having to carry the car key around.
People complain saying it's not secure, but I'd trust the security on my iphone over the manufacturer keyless entry anytime. If someone stole my phone that's no different to them stealing your car key so it's not more or less secure in that way anyway. I've shared my key with my partner / parents just in case they ever need to gain entry to it (or if I did lose my phone or something).
It works with lag, delay or the need to have an app open. The standard way to do it in the Mini app is SO slow in comparison.
Unless your Iphone or Android phone wallpaper is a Mini 🙂 it's a bit harder to associate your phone with your car, unlike the keyfob
On Android you can disable the UWB wallet key passive lock/unlock ( not looked on my IP15pm) which is not as convenient as you have to tap the 3 small indents on the drivers door handle on your Mini but i guess a little more secure than just walking down a row of cars and waiting to see which one flash's it's lights lol
I still unlock mine by putting a key in the hole in the door and the windows go up and down by me winding a handle. 🤣