New Digital Key App Now Lets You Start Your Car with Your Smartphone

The increase in technology in cars is busy taking off at a rapid pace, and these days it’s not only reserved for the unaffordable and exclusive brands, it’s busy filtering into the average sedan and hatchback too.

Other manufacturers have already dabbled in utilising smartphones alongside their vehicles, and Hyundai has decided to get in on the action with the development of their ‘digital key’.

The concept is relatively simple:

• Download the appropriate app onto your smartphone.
• Pair it with your car.
• Use it open your doors/start your car.

The app communicates with an NFC (Near Field Communication) receiver in the driver and passenger doors in order to open them, after which the driver can place their smartphone on a wireless charging pad and then turn the car on by pressing a button on the dash. A car can be paired with up to four apps, so that whoever requires access to the car can easily drive it without having to worry about having four sets of keys.

Hyundai’s development of this functionality isn’t just because it seems cool – they’ve got practical issues in mind too. One of the biggest being the growth of car rental and sharing programs all over the world. By allowing multiple people access to the car just through the use of an app, it takes a lot of hassle out of car-sharing programs, such as the problems of sharing and distributing physical keys.

Hyundai has also dropped the hint that they’re planning on increasing the number of controllable features on the app, one of the rumours being that a future car of theirs will have autonomous parking which is to be controlled via the app.

Whether it’s for car-sharing platforms or just to make an individual driver’s life a little bit easier, it’s difficult to deny the development of this kind of tech is pretty cool for the average driver to get access to!

Source: Hyundai