The idea of using your phone or smartwatch as a car key has been around for some time, and some vehicles – usually more expensive – are already equipped to allow you to do so. However, implementation has been extremely inconsistent between car brands and sometimes even requires certain phone models to function. Until recently, the necessary software was not even pre-built into devices, which means you would need a third-party application to lock and unlock the machine.
Everything is changing, though. At Apple’s global developer conference last summer, it introduced a new Car Keys protocol that incorporated the feature into the Wallet app for iOS, in the same place where your credit cards are stored. However, so far, the company has only worked with BMW to launch it.
Today, Samsung unveiled its new product Galaxy S21 a wide range of smartphones and, like Apple, also bakes the digital key hardware and software right in its phones. Unlike Apple, the Korean technology giant has announced collaborations with Ford, Genesis and Audi, as well as with BMW, to bring the function to more brands and models “in the near future”.
Not only the desire to work together makes the car’s digital keys more accessible – the hardware also plays a role. Previously, digital keys depended entirely on a technology called near field communication, or NFC. NFC is how you can pay for things by touching your phone at a payment terminal; it’s also the base behind those labels that you can buy and stick around your house, so that, for example, when you place your phone on the nightstand, it automatically sets an alarm.
NFC is an extremely simple and practical technology, but it requires almost physical contact to function. A lot of the time, this is good – you don’t want to accidentally pay for someone else’s shampoo when you’re on the Target payline. However, a newer protocol, called ultra wideband (UWB), enhances NFC by providing extremely precise short-distance location communication. Car manufacturers and technology companies consider it a good fit for unlocking the car door.
At today’s Samsung Unpacked event, where he presented his new phone, Kevin Chung from Samsung described how the unlocking with UWB will take place. “You will be able to unlock the car door with your phone,” Chung said. “The door will unlock when you get there – not earlier, not later.”
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In other words, if your phone is in your bag or pocket, you won’t have to take it out and touch the handle to get inside. At the same time, you can be sure that your car will not unlock even when you are halfway parked.
Integrating the digital key at the operating system level will allow you to share the key with friends and family when needed, and Chung stressed that this will extend to users of all phones “regardless of brand or platform.” The last point is huge and indicates an industry-wide shift to common practices for this feature, which will help it reach more machines, more devices, and ultimately more people.
Apple and Samsung are part of a body called the Car Connectivity Consortium, along with Hyundai, General Motors and Volkswagen, among other automakers. The consortium has developed a standard, called Digital Key 3.0, that cements the use of low-power UWB, NFC and Bluetooth for digital keys in all makes and models of gadgets and cars.
UWB chips can be found in a growing number of popular phones, including the iPhone 12 and iPhone 11 series and Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, in addition to the already mentioned S21 range. However, NFC is still the basis for today’s digital keys, as UWB is still fairly new to the scene.
BMW is one of the leading car manufacturers to switch to UWB. He confirmed yesterday that the BMW iX will introduce the next-generation key technology when it goes on sale at the end of the year. According to the company, not only will it be more convenient than NFC-based digital keys, but also more secure:
[UWB] is a short-range, high-bandwidth digital radio technology that is characterized by exceptionally accurate localization with the highest possible security. UWB accuracy also ensures that relay attacks, if the radio signal is blocked or intercepted, are not possible.
The promise of being able to use your phone as a car key came a long time ago and has already arrived for a few lucky people. But now that the world’s largest phone manufacturers are fully on board and car manufacturers are working with them to develop a common standard, it may finally catch on for us.