Google turns the Galaxy S21 series into BMW digital car keys

Firmware

Galaxy S21 series users in select countries can now unlock their BMWs using their phones. As promised earlier this year, Google is rolling out the digital car key feature for its Pixel 6 smartphones and the Samsung Galaxy S21 series. As the wording implies, a digital car key solution allows customers to turn their phones into ‘digital car keys' for compatible vehicles.

Google's digital car key feature works in a similar way to Samsung's own digital key solution that rolled for select Galaxy devices in South Korea a couple of months ago. But they're not the same thing, even though they essentially serve a similar purpose. For starters, Samsung's solution is limited to Korea and the Genesis GV60 electric vehicle. The Google digital car key, on the other hand, is available in more countries and works with compatible BMW cars.

Google's official announcement doesn't list compatible BMW cars or countries where the digital key is available. But as far as Samsung customers go, Galaxy S21 owners can reportedly use the Google digital car key feature with compatible BMW models in Denmark, France, Great Britain, Italy, Spain, South Korea, and the United States (via 9to5Google).

In addition to this new feature, Google announced that it's improving Android Auto with an auto-launch feature. Android Auto should now fire up automatically whenever you connect your phone. Google also confirmed that it's working on smart reply options and improvements to voice-based music searches for Android Auto. These features will roll out with a future update.

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Mihai Matei - Senior Editor

[email protected]

First Samsung device: SGH-A800

Mihai is a blogger and column writer at SamMobile. His first Samsung phone was an A800 which took a lot of beating, and a part of him still misses the novelty of the clamshell design. In his free time, he enjoys watching shows, documentaries, and stand-up comedy; listening to music, taking walks, and occasionally playing old(er) video games.

Via Firmware Phone Android Auto France Galaxy S21 Galaxy S21 Plus Galaxy S21 Ultra Google Italy South Korea spain UK USA

android auto ai feature to summarize messages

Google turns the Galaxy S21 series into BMW digital car keys

Mihai Matei - Senior Editor

[email protected]

First Samsung device: SGH-A800

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