Ever thought of using your smartphone as a car key? Well, you are not the only one. Last year, Apple announced that they would enable cars to be unlocked wirelessly with iPhones as digital car keys. It seems like Google is following in their footsteps and bringing the same feature to devices running on Android 12.
Having said that, the feature will be available on limited devices, which includes select Samsung Galaxy and Pixel phones. Honestly, Google isn’t exactly late to the party since automobile manufacturers are still hesitant to adopt the feature. The Mountain View-based company announced that they would currently support only BMW cars. Earlier this year, BMW already said that they would work with Samsung to incorporate the new feature. But, again, BMW only has one car in their lineup that enables the use of digital car keys.
Some car manufacturers have already adapted similar technologies and enable owners to unlock their cars without taking the keys out of their pocket. The idea behind digital car keys is to make car keys completely redundant and replace them with smartphones. It uses the new ultra-wideband frequency of radios to communicate securely.
Several Apple devices, such as the new iPhone and the Apple Watch Series 6, already have the required radios. It can be used to spot your car in a parking lot. Samsung is already aware of the fact and is working on it.
It looks like Apple and Google both plan to include NFC to make things backwards compatible. However, using NFC means that you have to take your phone out in order to unlock your car like in the BMW 5 Series.
