The End of Phone-Wallet-Keys
My favorite announcement from Apple’s WWDC keynote this year wasn’t iOS’ new home screen or the Mac transitioning to Apple’s own ARM processors, it was CarKey where an iPhone can act as the key to your car.
Whenever I leave the house I always grab two things, my wallet and my car key (and the 2020 bonus item: a face mask). The other two items, my iPhone and my AirPods, are generally in my pockets at all times, so I don’t need to worry about them. This is a routine so many of us are familiar with that Adam Sandler wrote a song about it. I want to instead live in a world where my phone, wallet and keys become one thing.
I’ve taken a few steps in this direction lately. More and more retailers are accepting tap-to-pay, which includes Apple Pay and Google Pay. I still bring my credit cards with me because I can’t yet rely on tap-to-pay everywhere, especially at restaurants who by and large still have a server take your card from you to process the payment (which is a great way to get your card number stolen). But I am hopeful that tap-to-pay will become ubiquitous soon in the US as it has in Europe and Canada.
It may take a bit longer for my phone to replace my driver’s license, but there are efforts underway in various states to adopt digital driver’s licenses and Louisiana already has an ID app.
My house key was long ago replaced with an August Smart Lock, so CarKey will target the last remaining key in my life. Digital car keys have more advantages over physical ones than not having to be carried around: you can share them with others digitally and place restrictions on the shared keys such as top speed, acceleration and stereo volume (take that teenagers!). If you’re not good at keeping your phone charged, your phone can still operate your car for up to five hours after its battery has died.
The one major downside of course is that I’ll need to buy a new car to enjoy this feature. The only car that has been officially announced so far is the 2021 BMW 5 Series, but while I am likely to be in the market for a new car next year, I have my heart set on going electric.
Unfortunately there have been a number of delays in new car rollouts thanks to our favorite virus, but it looks like a slew of electric vehicles are coming in 2021, so I’ll be waiting with bated breath for one to include CarKey and make my “one thing” dream a reality.
