BMW Announces Latest Vehicles That Can Be Unlocked With Your iPhone in Your Pocket

[joecomo]

Great, that BMW is coming to its senses.
Not so long ago, their concept of a modern car key, was a huge thing with a touch screen, that you were supposed to carry around.

 

[rum0rm0nger]

I am trying to wonder, how would a wireless key be more annoying when washing a car?

At least for me, with key in pocket when washing the car, it will constantly lock/unlock whenever I wash the door handles b/c I'm running over the respective sensors.

They use Bluetooth for communicating between phone and car. The BMW video says Bluetooth has to be on on your phone to work. The UWB is for getting accurate location between phone and car, in a non-relayable way, the problem with Bluetooth has been the relaying issue. Oddly so many car makers are still sticking with Bluetooth alone, and they have techniques to prevent relaying from working, but regardless it still has accuracy issues, Bluetooth can only estimate how close you are approximately but UWB gets a fix pretty reliably.

Hyundai has been using NFC for their app for 2-3 years now. No idea if it's any better or worse than BT, but it's different, at least.

 

[jaytv111]

Hyundai has been using NFC for their app for 2-3 years now. No idea if it's any better or worse than BT, but it's different, at least.

NFC works over very short distances compared to Bluetooth. You have to tap the phone (or keycard for that matter) to the sensor on the door, and then to start you have to tap again on a sensor inside the car. This has the benefit of no relaying, but it has the drawback of needing to take out the device and tap on the door and again inside.

I think a few other carmakers have NFC as well and offer a credit card key. If they offer it through an app and it's not BMW or the new Hyundais/Kias/Genesis they announced recently then you have to have an Android phone because Apple did not open up NFC to 3rd parties.

 

[sudo-sandwich]

But if you lost your key or locked it inside your car, I'd bet you'd want this as a backup.

This is how I use Apple Pay, for the rare times I forget my wallet.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

Why would I want my car to unlock every time I walk by the door, even if it relocks itself 30 seconds later? I am actually quite familiar with NFC RFID. It's fantastic for the applications where it is the best choice. Unlocking your car every 45 seconds while you are moving stuff around in your garage or building stuff with the 3d printer or whatever is not a good use. When I want my car door locked, I will push the button on the key. When I want my car door unlocked, I will push the button on the key. When I want to start my car, I will step on the clutch and hit the button. If I want to drift a corner at 100MPH, I will downshift when I want to downshift. I will let off the clutch as I want to let off the clutch. I will upshift and floor it when I want to upshift and floor it.

I should have clarified that I actually have to grasp the door handle on my car for the NFC fob to unlock (there's apparently a capacitive switch inside the door handle). My previous car had a physical button to push - fob proximity + button press gains entry.

Everyone uses their garages in different ways, I guess. The only time I come close to my car doors when in my garage is when I'm about to enter the car or when I'm grabbing a garden tool from the rack nearby. I don't have a 3-D printer next to the car, and I doubt there are many who do. Others may have a table saw, ping-pong table, or another car... Most of the time I need to unlock I'm in parking lots. My intent to enter the car is pretty obvious under those circumstances. An easy unlock simply reduces "friction" - one less action to take. A small thing for the most part, but it can feel luxurious at times.

Basically, this kind of thing is a lifestyle choice. If it fits your lifestyle then enable the feature, if it doesn't, then don't enable the feature. Our smart devices have all sorts of capabilities, only a fraction of which any one of us will use. Each of us chooses the features we want and ignores those they don't want/need.

 

[ScubaCinci]

Except that, due to the chip shortage, we won't actually be installing it in the cars. Ask me how I know 😒

 

[Sir_Macs_A_Lot]

Currently, I don't have to worry about making sure all of these settings are turned on to get in and start my car.
The Nissan key fob in my pocket just...works.

 

[5232152]

hackers will love this era, no more door forces for the police to investigate, cars and houses

The amount of people who know how to hack a car using software versus people who know how to break your window?
I think we are better off to be honest.

 

[Sir_Macs_A_Lot]

I really love having a phone as a key. I really hated carrying keys around in my pocket.

I guess that's good if you can live a completely 'key-free life'. No house keys, no office keys, no desk keys, no gym locker keys, etc. Otherwise...what's the point?

 

[JoeShades]

Currently, I don't have to worry about making sure all of these settings are turned on to get in and start my car.
The Nissan key fob in my pocket just...works.

Only positive is not having to change battery but that is only if you can totally ditch the keys which most people can't

 

[MrkJensen]

One day in a not so distant future, then you are utter ****ed if you loose your phone.

 

[Itinj24]

One day in a not so distant future, then you are utter ****ed if you loose your phone.

The car still comes with a key Fob and a key card too

 

[spinstorm]

I have two cars that use this technology but not the Apple car key.

I have a YouTube channel - Tech in the Car - and this week I have had a Polestar 2 EV on loan.

I set up my phone to be the key - and it works using Bluetooth. I’m not sure it uses UWB as it works on my Android phone too but it does work - most of the time.

I have had two problems the last two days. Caused possibly by me turning my phone to airplane mode while away from the car… but when I came back I wasn’t able to open the car or start it using the phone key. This happened twice. I had to spend 15 mins turning my phone on and off before it eventually worked!

I love the idea but I’m not sure it’s perfected but again Polestar doesn’t use the Apple Car key.

The other car I have - my own car a 2022 Audi RS3 - also has a digital key. Accept this does not work on iPhone. Only Android. And it doesn’t use Bluetooth. It uses NFC. This seems to be far more reliable. As I simply tap it on the door handle and just like using Apple/Google pay the car recognizes it and unlocks. To start the car I put the phone on the NFC/wireless charging pad and then the car sees the key and starts.

Which do I prefer? I’d actually like to be able to use both as the NFC is pretty much always going to work, unlike Bluetooth. But the Bluetooth like on the Polestar 2 literally makes it work like your normal car keys. No tapping or putting in a special place to start it.

But it has been fun using both of these…

 

[_damienjay]

I just took ownership of a MY22 X5 (Build 04/22) and I can confirm that with the key fobs it will unlock automatically without touching the door handle upon approach. My car usually unlocks when I’m about 5-10 feet away. I love being able to just tap my phone on the door handle to unlock. It’s a bit slower with my Apple Watch.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

I guess that's good if you can live a completely 'key-free life'. No house keys, no office keys, no desk keys, no gym locker keys, etc. Otherwise...what's the point?

Any reduction in keys is a plus, IMO. I've had some awfully big keychains over the years. My fob is currently about 1/3 of that bulk, maybe more, and I only have one car. Imagine if you own several fob-controlled cars.

To the "How can this possibly be useful" crowd, I add these scenarios: Dead/dying battery in the fob. Fob lost by the parking attendant.

People are concerned about the dead iPhone battery scenario. In my experience it's far easier and faster to get an iPhone partially charged than to buy a replacement fob battery. And while I'm sure some manufacturers may make it easy to change a fob battery, I actually had to check my owners manual to see how to change my fob's battery (pry it open in a particular spot after separating the fob from the hidden physical key).

Once the technology becomes more widespread (it is an industry standard, after all), I'd expect there will be simple key sharing with parking attendants - temporary/automatically-expiring keys are supported under the standard. Much nicer than having to give a physical key/fob to the attendant, especially considering the common practice of the attendants leaving fobs in the vehicles rather than storing them in a secure location.

 

[Sir_Macs_A_Lot]

Any reduction in keys is a plus, IMO. I've had some awfully big keychains over the years. My fob is currently about 1/3 of that bulk, maybe more, and I only have one car. Imagine if you own several fob-controlled cars.

To the "How can this possibly be useful" crowd, I add these scenarios: Dead/dying battery in the fob. Fob lost by the parking attendant.

People are concerned about the dead iPhone battery scenario. In my experience it's far easier and faster to get an iPhone partially charged than to buy a replacement fob battery. And while I'm sure some manufacturers may make it easy to change a fob battery, I actually had to check my owners manual to see how to change my fob's battery (pry it open in a particular spot after separating the fob from the hidden physical key).

Once the technology becomes more widespread (it is an industry standard, after all), I'd expect there will be simple key sharing with parking attendants - temporary/automatically-expiring keys are supported under the standard. Much nicer than having to give a physical key/fob to the attendant, especially considering the common practice of the attendants leaving fobs in the vehicles rather than storing them in a secure location.

Good points.
Looking forward to the future for a more perfect solution.

 

[Itinj24]

I just took ownership of a MY22 X5 (Build 04/22) and I can confirm that with the key fobs it will unlock automatically without touching the door handle upon approach. My car usually unlocks when I’m about 5-10 feet away. I love being able to just tap my phone on the door handle to unlock. It’s a bit slower with my Apple Watch.

On the door handle, toward the rear, there should be a pad with two or three raised lines. If you tap the watch directly on that pad, it’s usually pretty quick. It is for me at least.

Just wished the ignition part of the NFC was in a more convenient location. Having to reach the left arm to the wireless charging pad in the lower center stack is a little annoying.