Have you ever seen an iPhone owner using it to unlock their car and wished that you could do it with your Android phone as well? Now you can, so long as you have a BMW and one of a handful of compatible phones.
The updated BMW Digital Key Plus feature is now available for a number of Android phones having previously been compatible only with Apple's iPhone. Compatible Android phones include some of the very best that Google and Samsung have to offer including the Pixel 7 Pro and Galaxy S23 Ultra.
Unlock and start your BMW with your Android phone
German carmaker BMW was the one that announced the new Android support. That came via a press release in which the company confirmed which phones will be compatible with the Digital Key Plus feature.
"Digital Key Plus can now be set up and activated on current Samsung Galaxy S23+ / Ultra and Google Pixel 7 Pro smartphones, and a number of older models with suitable hardware," the press release reads.
It later confirmed exactly which models are good to go. The full list reads:
Samsung
- Galaxy S23+
- Galaxy S23 Ultra
- Galaxy S22+
- Galaxy S22 Ultra
- Galaxy S21+
- Galaxy S21 Ultra
- Galaxy Z Fold 4
- Galaxy Z Fold 3
- Galaxy Note 20 Ultra (in markets with Samsung Wallet)
Google:
- Pixel 7 Pro
- Pixel 6 Pro
If you're wondering why your own phone is missing, it's likely the lack of ultra-wideband (UWB) support. BMW says that support for UWB means that the risk of relay attacks is greatly reduced, making it less likely that people will be able to steal your car off your driveway just by piggybacking off your phone's signal. That's a problem that cars with keyless entry features have been plagued with for years, but UWB should help fix that, we're told.
You will of course also need to have a compatible BMW and the My BMW app installed, but assuming that's all squared away you can start using your phone to lock, unlock, and start your vehicle today.