Using Your iPhone or Apple Watch to Unlock Your Car Will Soon Be Possible

BMW Digital Key | Photo: BMW

iOS 13.4 Beta was unveiled earlier this week for developers;
The next Apple iOS might come with a new technology called CarKey;
With it, you could unlock, lock and start your car with your iPhone.

Earlier this week Apple released the iOS 13.4 Beta for developers that contains heaps of new features. One of them, as reported by Apple news website 9to5Mac, is called Apple CarKey.

CarKey will be able, via either your iPhone or Apple Watch, to lock, unlock and even start your car if it’s NFC-compatible, according to 9to5Mac. While digging deeper, they also found out no Face ID will be necessary to make Apple CarKey work, comparable to Apple Pay. They further add that it means that CarKey will still work even if your Watch or iPhone runs out of battery.

The system’s internal files reveal that “To use CarKey, hold iPhone or Apple Watch to reader. It will work automatically, without requiring Face ID. You can change express mode settings in Wallet.”

The full setup of Apple’s CarKey requires a few steps. At first, you’ll have to place your iPhone next to the NFC reader in your car. Then, your dealership will provide you with a pairing code for your car. It might also be possible to be able to connect to your vehicle using the brand’s app.

9to5Mac also discovered another gem in Apple’s iOS 13.4 Beta files. Indeed, according to the latter, you will be able to share your CarKey with other individuals with an invite through the Wallet app and choose to share full or restricted access to it. The files say: “%@ invited you to use their %@ with unlock access. This allows you to use your iPhone and Apple Watch to unlock/lock the car.”