BMW Updates Connected App With Car Keys Support

[MacRumors]

Apple at WWDC announced Car Keys, a new feature designed to allow digital car keys to be added to the Wallet app on the iPhone, allowing iPhones and Apple Watch models to be used in lieu of a physical car key.

Apple at the time said the feature would come to both iOS 13 and iOS 14, and the first Car Keys partner, BMW, today added support for the feature to its BMW Connected app. With Car Keys support, a BMW Digital Key for the iPhone can be added to the Wallet app on the iPhone.

The feature allows the iPhone to be used to lock and unlock the car by holding it up to the door handle, and it can also start the car when the iPhone is placed in the smartphone tray in the vehicle. Access to a car can be shared with up to five friends or family members, with various restrictions available.

BMW's Digital Key for iPhone feature works with a number of BMW models: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, X5, X6, X7, X5M, X6M and Z4 if manufactured after July 1st 2020. Compatible vehicles will be shown on the vehicle tab in the app.

An iPhone XR, XS, or newer is required, and for those who want to use an Apple Watch, an Apple Watch Series 5 or newer is required. When Car Keys was announced, BMW said the feature would require iOS 13.6, which Apple has not released, so it's not clear if the digital key feature is functional at this time.

For more on how Car Keys works and its feature set, make sure to check out our guide.

(Thanks, Florian!)

Article Link: BMW Updates Connected App With Car Keys Support

 

[BruiserB]

Now I just need a BMW made after yesterday....

 

[smithrh]

Your next BMW might only have heated seats for 3 months

As services-based economies sweep every industry, it's time for the automotive realm to carry on.

www.cnet.com

Happy I moved away from BMW.

 

[mannyvel]

Apple Watch 5 required? Shouldn't that be 4 or 5, since they're basically the same except for the always-on screen?

 

[DarkCole]

Excited to use this, in maybe 10 years.

 

[JPack]

Apple Watch 5 required? Shouldn't that be 4 or 5, since they're basically the same except for the always-on screen?

Apple states Watch Series 5 only.

 

[Kylo83]

Apple Watch 5 required? Shouldn't that be 4 or 5, since they're basically the same except for the always-on screen?

Yea series 4 should work
[automerge]1593713994[/automerge]

Apple states Watch Series 5 only.

Why they are the same apart from
Always on display?

 

[LiE_]

Looking forward to using this feature in 5 years time 😂

 

[Kylo83]

Apple states Watch Series 5 only.

Why they are the same apart from
Always on display?

 

[AnorexicPig]

Damn I wish I had this on my 2018 F80. But happy for the new owners who will be the first to enjoy it. Two companies I admire the most working together !

 

[JPack]

Why they are the same apart from
Always on display?

That might be a question to ask Philip Schiller, SVP Worldwide Marketing.

 

[Pirate!]

Your next BMW might only have heated seats for 3 months

As services-based economies sweep every industry, it's time for the automotive realm to carry on.

www.cnet.com

Happy I moved away from BMW.

Wow, that’s crazy. Great, features only active when I need them (already the case), but now they are subscription based?

 

[RasAage]

Does anyone know if this is going to work on BMW MINIs as well?

 

[nattK]

Why they are the same apart from
Always on display?

I'm guessing AOD includes some tech that keeps the watch "active" all the times which allows it to interact with the car anytime. Would be interesting to see if the watch still works with the car if you have AOD manually turned off

 

[4jasontv]

Wow, that’s crazy. Great, features only active when I need them (already the case), but now they are subscription based?

Ugh. Apple want's 30% of my sunroof DLC.

 

[Alex.Roams]

Anyone else not a fan of it being like a rewards card in the wallet app?

 

[Moccasin]

Does anyone know if this is going to work on BMW MINIs as well?

Should be easy enough as they share the same system, but no announcement made so far.

 

[CheesePuff]

Apple Watch 5 required? Shouldn't that be 4 or 5, since they're basically the same except for the always-on screen?

Also a compass, and Apple says a S5 chip is in it as opposed to S4, so who knows what small change may be inside as they wouldn't just name it a new SoC with zero changes.

 

[Weaselboy]

BMW: Host of new features coming to iDrive 7, free via OTA updates

As promised, a few years back, over the air (OTA) updates are starting to pop up more frequently in modern-day BMWs

www.bmwblog.com

BMW also announced today they will be releasing this as an over the air update in iDrive 7 equipped BMWs. That would cover most models released in the last year or so.

 

[alexandr]

Anyone else not a fan of it being like a rewards card in the wallet app?

yes, but i'm hoping this will work like a transit card, where you don't have to pull it up/activate it...

 

[namenotfound]

So "Not available at dealers near you". Probably not for weeks or months. Customer goes to BMW dealer. "Hey, does this come with Apple CarKey". SalesPerson - "Sure!". Customer drives new car home. Customer can't find Apple Carkey. Calls SalePerson. SalesPerson "My Bad".

 

[GadgetBen]

Love the concept - hate BMW.

I hope other manufacturers follow and don’t waste money designing poor copycat systems.

Other car manufacturers are finally getting the hint with CarPlay over their own poor systems.

Leave the tech to the tech firms.

 

[kasei]

So it won't work on my 2020 X3 nor my 2018 440 Gran Coupe? Come on guys! Now it will be interesting to see if this gets the per service treatment and they try to charge you on a yearly bases for this.

 

[Weaselboy]

So it won't work on my 2020 X3 nor my 2018 440 Gran Coupe?

See my post #19 above. I know your 4-series does not have iDrive 7, but I think your X3 does and would be eligible for the upgrade mentioned in my post.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

Damn I wish I had this on my 2018 F80. But happy for the new owners who will be the first to enjoy it. Two companies I admire the most working together !

You know if you'd bought a Tesla it would have had this feature years ago, and that the Tesla would still be getting new features today?

Why on earth would someone purchase a car that wasn't a Tesla? We make fun of Android phones all the time on these forums for how they generally receive updates for about a year, then they rapidly age as they never get another update after that. Buying a non-Tesla is worse than that - a non-Tesla was generally last updated months-years before you bought it. It was worse than a Tesla when you bought it, and while the Tesla only gets better, everything else gets worse.

Sell your BMW now before you have to pay someone to get rid of it.