With the latest Tesla vehicle update, the company has added another convenience to their products. Of course, if your company or family owns a Tesla you can use your iPhone or Android smartphone as a key. As you approach your car it automatically unlocks the vehicle so that when you open the door it’s already unlocked when it detects you around. When you walk away from your vehicle, the Tesla vehicle detects your departure and locks your car.
With today’s update, Tesla has gone once step farther. For anyone using an Apple Watch, you can now use your Watch as a “Watch Key”. Just walk up to your vehicle with a paired watch and your car is unlocked. Put your seat belt on, and drive away. VERY convenient making the case for using a smart watch even stronger. Watch out Rolex, Seiko, and others!
With the Tesla watch app you can
- Lock and unlock your car
- Monitor your power reserve
- Turn on and off the air conditioning
- Open and close the trunk
- Flash the lights (to find the car at night or in a crowded area)
Why didn’t Tesla roll out this feature sooner? Most likely, because several years ago Apple was poaching Tesla engineers in the US to build their Apple car. With that rivalry, the company was probably not keen to do anything to promote Apple’s products. Once Apple’s car project failed, Tesla apparently didn’t see them as such a threat. Immediately, you saw their music services allowed on to the Tesla vehicles similar to Spotify who is already on the platform.
Tesla’s Watch Key is really a win for their customers.