At the launch of the Galaxy S21 series, Samsung had promised to offer digital car key feature to smartphones. The time may have ticked fast, but the Korean tech company is trying hard to stay true to its word at least in the home country. Starting with the October firmware update, the Galaxy S21+ and Galaxy S21 Ultra devices will get the Digital Car Key function in South Korea.
The update is rolling out in more countries including Germany, the Philippines, and India, but the digital car key will only be offered in South Korea. With the car key, users can open and close their car doors using NFC tag.
The function can even allow the driver to start the engine by placing the Galaxy device on the wireless charging pad in the car. For how interesting it may sound, Samsung has not confirmed which car brands and models will be supporting the feature at its launch.
Interestingly, Samsung had previously announced that it has worked with Audi, Genesis, BMW and Ford and these brands would support the digital key. As said, the company has not confirmed what brands it would be going through for now.
Other than introducing the new digital car key functionality in Korea, the October security update rolling out in the other countries will be concentrating on fixing minor issues. Reportedly in Korea, the new update that brings the digital car keys to the phones is rolling out with build number G99*BXXU3AUIE, however, the update in other countries ends with “AUIG” and its only limited to the security patch.
Though other countries will have to wait before their Galaxy S21 series phones can work as digital car keys, there is a possibility that this wait may not be too long. The digital car key can be stored in Samsung Pass, and it is expected to be available in Europe and the US soon.
