can you add car key feature to any car with a 3rd party service. kind of like installing a carplay screen

Hi,

This is an old post now, but its one that was rekindled due the latest round of WWDC 2024 announcements.

So their is two levels of Apple Car Keys, the simple Bluetooth authentication, which only gives you basic access to the car, and then there is a full encrypted version which is what you saw on the BWM example.

Now i been looking into this as i think their is more and more people with car who want this functionality, and even more who have car collections who find it irritating to have to house and riffle through a tone of keys to the car they want to take out for a drive.

So why are we waiting for it to be rolled out, and not just a download into our existing cars?

Simply put Hardware, to do the fully secured version you need a small chip from apple call a U1 or newer, to do this it has a cost, and you need to sign up to the Apple MFI program, allowing for access to this chip, its not too hard its the same program cable manufactures use, and other accessory makers, but my guess car makes don't currently have the extra head room to add this cost in.

So is there a 3rd party supplier who can add it to your car? I don't know at the moment, from what i can tell no there is not, so we in a chicken and egg situation. I might see what it would take to build something like this if your interested and in need. but let me know.

Lastly a lot of modern cars now come with apps that allow remote access and locking to cars, so for many this might feel redundant feature. I would say not... would love it... but anyway that is what i know so far.

Hope it helps others looking for this answer!