Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Volkswagen Car-Net iOS App Now Supports Siri and Siri Shortcuts for Vehicle Unlocking and More

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
67,488
37,763



Volkswagen today announced that subscribers of its Car-Net service can now use the iOS app and Siri to lock and unlock their car. The Siri command for this will be, "Hey Siri, lock my car."

With the feature, Volkswagen owners can also start and stop a charging session for electric cars, set a specific temperature in the car, locate the car, turn on the defroster, check estimated mileage, check charge levels, and enable the honk and flash alarm commands.

volkswagen-carplay.jpg

The company also confirmed that Car-Net supports Apple's new Siri Shortcuts app, allowing drivers to set personalized phrases that activate these Volkswagen connected car abilities alongside other smart home commands.
"We are constantly looking at innovative ways to make VW Car-Net more convenient and relevant for our customers," said Abdallah Shanti, EVP, Global Chief Information Officer Volkswagen Brand & Car-IT. "With Siri Shortcuts, creating voice commands to use with our mobile app was a great opportunity to do just that! Integration with Siri helps our drivers keep eyes on the road and hands on the wheel."
Click to expand...
Siri Shortcuts debuted in iOS 12 this past September, allowing users to create complex commands that tie together numerous apps, services, and smart home devices into one speakable phrase. To get the update for the VW Car-Net app, you'll need iOS 12 or later on iPhone [Direct Link].

Article Link: Volkswagen Car-Net iOS App Now Supports Siri and Siri Shortcuts for Vehicle Unlocking and More
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2018/11/12/volkswagen-car-net-ios-app-siri/
some of those would be nice (particularly for owners in hot or cold climates to set temp) but locking and unlocking would have pretty limited use cases. Proximity sensors are much better to lock the car as you walk away and unlock as you approach.
 
The problem here is it requires you to own a VW. We had such problems with a Passat that we’re determined “Passat” is German for “always in the shop.” Fun car to drive, though. It was used and had a manual transmission. It was for my wife and she hadn’t driven a manual in years. She texted me to come out (at the dealer) and show her how to put it in gear. :) Fun times.

Anyway…
 
  • Like
Reactions: gblandon
adamjackson said:
For those wondering, Car-Net costs $119 a year. Most people I know have dropped it after the free-trial. Because it gives you things that you have on your smartphone for free like weather, sports scores, movie-times and SOS.
Click to expand...

For me it seems worth it for the “you left your sunroof open and there’s rain in the forecast” and the “you forgot to lock your car” bits.
 
Nice.

If shortcuts could be triggered via say, weather forecast, that'd be pretty nifty. Gonna be cold in the morning? Start heating my car before I come out.

If there's an API, could just write an app or set up a website that does that...
 
joelisfar said:
For me it seems worth it for the “you left your sunroof open and there’s rain in the forecast” and the “you forgot to lock your car” bits.
Click to expand...

The sunroof notices are great, but it sucks that on my model I can't close it. Currently trying to decide if I keep it beyond the trial.
 
Yeah, we have uConnect iOS for our DD/RT, it's pretty handy, remote start (that's tied into the temp sensors so it auto set the heating/cooling including the seats/wheel), can check mileage, tire pressure, review startup diags, etc.

I'd love if it was Shortcuts compatible, it's be fun to set up some voice activation, or in some future version (like another user mentioned), where you could use other apps as sources for conditional triggers and whatnot.
 
adamjackson said:
For those wondering, Car-Net costs $119 a year. Most people I know have dropped it after the free-trial. Because it gives you things that you have on your smartphone for free like weather, sports scores, movie-times and SOS.
Click to expand...

depends. the first three years are free
 
  • Like
Reactions: Godzirra
adamjackson said:
For those wondering, Car-Net costs $119 a year. Most people I know have dropped it after the free-trial. Because it gives you things that you have on your smartphone for free like weather, sports scores, movie-times and SOS.
Click to expand...


These companies are trying to suck away people's lives with subscriptions.

They can go to Hades with their subscription models!
 
  • Like
Reactions: t1meless1nf1n1t
Pretty surprised with all the anti-subscription comments. I mean, I too of course would prefer not to pay it. But I've had both Hyundai Bluelink and now Toyota Remote Connect, and both have a subscription fee (after the initial free trial of course). I'm curious, which car makers are providing the ability to remote start your car from an app for free forever?
 
I've been using the trial of car-net for a while now. It's neat but I never use it. For safety reasons, the car infotainment system wont let you use it while in motion. If I'm sitting in my car and not moving, I default to using my phone to get sports scores and weather as it's much faster. I would like having it just to be alerted if I forget to lock my car to close the windows. Otherwise I don't find much value in the other features. It seems like I should be able to add my car to my existing cell phone plan for like $10 bucks a month (like an apple watch). At the current price of $18/month I don't think the value is there.
 
how about getting carplay work properly first? i have experienced the following situation multiple times:
d
1. iphone is detected
2. “smartlink” is starting up
3. failing to start up with an error message saying “check your phone whether it supports carplay” :)
4. stuck in this vicious cycle until i hold the power button of the infotainment unit for 20+ seconds, making the radio hard reset itself

it is a VW “magellan” unit, a factory fitted carplay device in my car.

nevertheless it tells a story when you discover that their top of the line in-car navigation system is called “colombus”, afrer the guy who famously ended up in america while trying to find india...
 
adamjackson said:
For those wondering, Car-Net costs $119 a year. Most people I know have dropped it after the free-trial. Because it gives you things that you have on your smartphone for free like weather, sports scores, movie-times and SOS.
Click to expand...

This is only partially true on VWs being sold this year. Car-Net is only for roadside, SOS, unlock/lock, fuel status, and maintenance status. The weather, sports, and movie times you speak of is a SiriusXM subscription called Travel Link that starts at $1.99 a month.
 
AllergyDoc said:
The problem here is it requires you to own a VW. We had such problems with a Passat that we’re determined “Passat” is German for “always in the shop.” Fun car to drive, though. It was used and had a manual transmission. It was for my wife and she hadn’t driven a manual in years. She texted me to come out (at the dealer) and show her how to put it in gear. :) Fun times.

Anyway…
Click to expand...

Been a VW owner since 1998. On GTI number 5 won’t drive anything else ever/
 
  • Like
Reactions: Godzirra, WWPD and MK7NJ
“Hey Siri, drive to the end of the aqueduct.”

Siri:”okay. Initiating self-destruct.”
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back