Apple announces CarKey
Apple CarKey has been recently announced. It’s a new system that will allow Apple product owners the ability to unlock and start their cars through their devices. BMW was part of this announcement being the first car manufacturer to adopt this new technology. This could add a whole new level of ease for accessing your car, but it could be exclusive of Android users.
How Apple CarKey works. 
If you are the owner of a recent Apple iPhone or Watch, you can now set up the BMW Smartphone App and pair it with a car that supports CarKey. Through the app, you can share your Apple CarKey with friends and family as well as set options to limit the performance for younger drivers. The latter of which your young adult children will love.
Once set up, you can hold the Apple Device to the door handle of the car. It will either ask for Face ID or Touch ID, or if you have Express Mode on, instantly unlock the car. Once inside, putting your iPhone in the smartphone tray and pushing a start button will get you going. An Apple Watch user may be able to just push the start button, Apple did not say.
If your phone runs out of battery, the app will turn your iPhone off before the battery is all gone. This way it can keep the Apple CarKey app running so you are not locked out of your car.
What if you are an Android user?
There is one thing that is a big frustration with some vehicles and thank the car manufacturers that it doesn’t happen very often. That is the cars ability to use Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Many cars only offer access to one meaning they are cutting out a huge part of the market and making is essential for me to say if it does or does not use both.
We really do hope that this will not be an Apple exclusive feature and rather a universal one that Apple got to first. As it stands, BMW does offer similar apps, but none are as good as this new Apple one. Honestly, I wish BMW would go the Fiat route and make magic pebbles, everyone can use one of those.
Start planning your route ahead.
As Apple starts to make their devices more automobile friendly, they have also vastly improved their navigation and mapping app too. If you are the owner of an electric or hybrid car, you can now plan a route with charging stops in mind. The app will show charging stations that are compatible with your vehicle and allow you to navigate to them when you need them on your journey.
This new CarKey step for Apple and BMW will be in full function with the new BMW 5-series from 1 July 2020 and available on XR, XS or newer iPhones as well as the Apple Watch Series 5 or newer.
Source & images: BMW Blog | Car Magazine
