Digital key sharing is currently limited to Pixel devices but Google plans to offer the feature on more phones soon
iPhone and Pixel users can now share digital car keys (Image Courtesy: Google)
Google has added the ability to share digital car keys on Pixel devices. The sharing also works cross-platform, which means Pixel users can shared their keys with iPhone users running iOS 16.1 or higher.
Digital car keys allow you to lock and unlock cars using your smartphone. In some cases, they can also act as a fully-functioning key, allowing you to start or turn off the car engine.
They are still a fairly new concept and currently, supported by only a handful of manufacturers like BMW and Hyundai. Some cars will still require extra authentication after you use a digital key, like a code or requiring a physical key to be present for starting the engine.
Google has said that it plans to expand the feature to other Android phones running Android version 12 or higher but there isn’t a set date for it, so far.
Apple is working with the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and other industry manufacturers to create an open standard for digital car keys and sharing these keys with other platforms. Digital keys can be shared through messages, email, and Instant Messenger (IM) clients like WhatsApp.
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