Digital key is a characteristic that allows the use of smart devices as keys. A digital key can be used in the same way as a physical key or a key fob. The car digital key is used in particular for locking and unlocking car doors and also allows the user to get the whole control of the car.

What can a car digital key do?

• Unlock the Vehicle
• Lock the Vehicle
• Start the Engine
• User Authentication
• Digital Key Sharing – Remote & Peer-to-Peer
• Others

What's difference of digital keys among different automakers?

Several automakers offer digital key technology. For example, BMW Digital Key is compatible with the Apple iPhone. Hyundai Digital Key works with Google Android devices. And Lincoln Phone as a Key plays nice with both Apple and Android smartphones.

Lincoln offers the technology on its Aviator and Corsair SUVs, while BMW makes it available on nearly every vehicle it sells. You need not buy a luxury car to get digital key technology, though. Hyundai is expanding the availability of its version of a digital key, most recently to the redesigned 2021 Elantra, a compact sedan aimed at a youthful, tech-savvy audience.

What are the advantages of using a smartphone as a digital key?

The main benefit of a digital key is the convenience of technology consolidation in a single device ---- the smartphone and the ecosystem and its applications. The key benefit Bluetooth® technology provides for digital key and access control is the wide adoption of Bluetooth LE on smartphones.

How to get started with the digital car key? (from Android Help)

You can pair your phone to your car by using the car manufacturer’s APP as following steps:

1. Open the car manufacturer’s APP and follow the on-screen instructions to set up your account.
2. To pair your car to the account, in the APP, find “digital car key” and follow the instructions.
3. On the welcome screen, sign in with your Google Account.
4. Review the Terms of Service and select Agree & continue.
5. You can choose to edit the key name. By default, it’s [your name] + [phone model]. For example, “Erik’s Pixel 6 Pro.” This name can’t be changed later.
6. Place your phone on your car key reader and wait for your phone and car to pair.
7. Once pairing is complete, tap Add to Home screen to add a shortcut to your home screen.

With Bluetooth technology, the digital key can not only be used in the vehicle field, but also be used in a wide range of applications like the hotel, access control, patrol inspection, indoor positioning and other fields. RF-star’s BLE modules have helped a lot of automobile enterprises to achieve the smart and easy use. We are keeping expanding BLE technology for more extended applications as well.